What Was Lost
by Consign2Oblivion
Summary: They lost the final battle, Harry was taken by Voldemort, and Hermione must go back in time to help Snape make a protection potion using a Time Turner that Dumbledore experimented with. Hermione jumps through time, finding a young Snape, an old Snape, and finally Snape one year before the battle. Their potion, and their passion, will determine the outcome of the battle.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione stopped reading only long enough to jot down a few notes on her parchment, then she went back to scanning the giant tome she had been flipping through all night. She sighed, her eyes starting to go blurry from lack of sleep, and absent-mindedly massaged her shoulder, trying to relieve some of the cramping. "Miss Granger?" a familiar voice drawled, and Hermione froze. She had hoped she would be left alone tonight, especially by him. She had to remind herself that she wasn't some first year that was deathly scared by the descending of his eyebrows anymore. After six years in classes with him, he ceased to frighten her any longer. Well…he didn't frighten her as _much_ as he used to.

"Yes, Professor Snape?" she responded, hoping he would just make a comment about her being a know-it-all and then leave her alone. She could feel a headache threatening to descend as it formed just behind her eyes.

"Might I have the honor of your eyes, as well as your attention, Granger?" he sneered. Hermione finally raised her eyes to his. He nodded and said, "The Headmaster wants to see you."

Hermione frowned, "Now? Doesn't he know how important this is?"

Snape rolled his eyes, "No doubt. However, the Headmaster has requested that I bring you. So if you cannot manage to tear yourself away from your book, then I shall endeavor to _help_ you."

Hermione sighed and closed the book with greater force than necessary. She rolled up her parchment, capped her ink, cleaned her quill, and set them in her canvas bag, tucking the large book under her arm. She began to walk toward the exit of the library when Snape called, "Miss Granger, I do believe that book belongs here."

"It shouldn't," she whispered, but after a moment placed the book down on the nearest counter. Satisfied, Snape swept past her, and she lengthened her stride to keep up with him as they walked from the library.

They took a different route than Hermione was used to taking, and finally ended up at an ordinary wooden door. "Professor, has the Headmaster changed rooms?" she asked confused as he tapped the door once with his wand and whispered the password.

"No, Miss Granger," he answered, not answering her unspoken question. The door swung open and Snape swept through. "Come along, Granger," he said, his gravelly voice spurring her to hurry after him. The passage led to another door, which Snape again tapped and gave another password. This door opened to reveal the Headmaster's office.

"Severus, thank you for bringing her," Dumbledore said his eyes uncharacteristically lifeless behind his half-moon spectacles. "Miss Granger," he said addressing Hermione now, "I know you have been doing a great deal of work, attempting to rectify this situation we now find ourselves in."

Hermione nodded, "I am getting close, Headmaster. I'm sure we will have to get more people to help us than just the Order, but we could have Harry back in a matter of days." She frowned, "But I really need to be researching. If I get just one part of his equation wrong, it could be devastating."

The Headmaster came out from behind his desk and smiled fondly at her. "You really are an amazing witch, Hermione. And not just because you are smart. You have a passion that few can boast, and a drive that few can match." He laid a hand on her shoulder and Hermione smiled with the praise. "Unfortunately," he said removing his hand and returning to lean against his desk, "We do not have a few days."

"What happened?" Hermione said, her mind wheeling with all that could have gone wrong.

The Headmaster smiled, "Nothing, my child, Harry is safe. For now. But I am weakening. This extended use of my power, over such a great distance, has drained my magic. Soon there will be nothing left. I will die, and Harry…Harry won't be protected from the Dark Lord any longer."

Hermione felt her stomach squeeze uncomfortably. "How long?" she asked, trying not to choke on the tears in her throat.

Dumbledore shrugged, "About a day, maybe a day and a half."

Hermione nodded, "I'll return to the library immediately. I just have to figure this out faster."

Dumbledore shook his head, "There isn't time, Miss Granger. We cannot take the chance that you will find what you are looking for in time. We must try another avenue."

"Another avenue?" Hermione whispered, "I thought we discussed all possible avenues, with the Order! No one had any other ideas." She paused. That wasn't exactly true, there had been plenty of ideas, just done that would actually work. Her idea was the Order's last chance, but everything depended on her getting the arithmancy correct. She couldn't be sure the spell would work correctly if she didn't solve it. But there were too many variables, and the one person who could have helped her had died a few weeks ago.

Dumbledore inclined his head, "We did discuss possible avenues, however, I did not raise my own idea. It is a last minute avenue, and it is dangerous. Far too dangerous for me to ask it of you, but…" The headmaster trailed off, his lips thinning and the blood draining from his face. "Severus," he choked out. Snape rushed forward, supporting the Headmaster with one arm while the other dug into his robes to pull out a vial.

"Unstopper it," Snape said thrusting his arm in Hermione's direction. She hurried forward and pulled the cork from the tiny glass bottle. Snape took the vial back and poured the contents down Dumbledore's throat.

Dumbledore straightened slightly, made a motion with his hand and said, "Protego." Gradually the color returned to his face and Snape helped guide Dumbledore back into his chair. "It is over, Severus," Dumbledore said patting the Potion Master's hand.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" Hermione asked, her eyes flicking from Snape to Dumbledore. It shocked her more than the final battle had to see Dumbledore so weak.

"Five points from Gryffindor," Snape snapped, "Keep a civil tongue in your head, Miss Granger. You are not Mr. Weasley." There was an awkward silence in the room as Snape realized what he had just said. His face went out of focus, and Hermione focused on maintaining her breathing as the panic resurfaced and the memories came back in one bright, horrific flash.

_Harry unconscious on the battle field, Ron and herself standing guard over his body, protecting him from the Death Eaters. Shoulder to shoulder, blocking curses, Snape behind them, protecting their backs. The green flash of light, Bellatrix's cackle of glee, and Ron's face as he…Ron's surprised face as he fell to join his best friend on the muddy ground._ _Her own voice ragged and desperate as she fell to the ground beside him, calling his name, yelling at him to get up. But he didn't respond. He was gone. Snape's hand around her arm as he tried to pull her up, as he screamed her name and blocked curses from all directions, attempting to save her wretched life. But she crawled forward, picking herself up and throwing herself toward the woman who had just killed one of her best friends. The wordless hex that ripped from her wand to kill Bellatrix, leaving a gaping hole in the mad woman's chest where her heart should have been. And then Voldemort appearing, his eyes focused on her, and the green bolt of light that came for her, before Snape threw himself at her and they apparated away, leaving her two best friends lying in the mud, one dead, and the other at Lord Voldemort's mercy._

"Miss Granger!" someone called her name. She was in someone's robes, her face buried in the soft black cloth. "Miss Granger, focus," Snape's deep voice called her back to herself and she realized she was crying all over his chest. He was holding her up, his strong arms around her waist to keep her from puddling on the floor.

"Sorry Professor," she said stepping back and wiping her eyes with the corner of her sleeve. He nodded, and turned his attention back to Dumbledore, trying to ignore his wet, tear-stained chest. Hermione noted with irritation that he did not apologize for his unthoughtful comment.

"Voldemort's attacks on Harry come more frequently now," Dumbledore said quietly, "He knows I do not have the strength to shield Harry much longer." Dumbledore looked from Hermione to Snape in dismay. "All these years, I thought I was doing right. I thought if only I could protect Harry long enough to reach maturity, he would be able to fulfill the prophesy." A lone tear slipped down his wrinkled cheek, "So many dead. So many friends sacrificed, and still we were not successful. Still the Dark Lord lives, and our savior, captured." His eyes cleared and he nodded, "But if this works, we can save them, Miss Granger. Mr. Weasley, Ginny, Ron, Lupin, Mad-eye, Vector, Kingsley, Dean, Harry…they can all be saved."

"How?" Hermione whispered, "I'll do anything, sir. Anything." She felt Snape staring at her, but ignored him, focusing on what the Headmaster would say next.

"I have been…experimenting with Time Turners," Dumbledore said, "I have created a new device. One that, if this works, will revolutionize Time Turners, make them more safe for witches and wizards to use. You must use it, Miss Granger. You know how to navigate through time, you showed yourself extraordinarily capable in only your third year. You know the rules, and Harry and Ron trust you. It would be much safer for Severus to go in your stead, but he is certain that Harry would not listen to him."

Hermione stole a glance at Snape, his face twisted in a frown. "What I actually said, Miss Granger, was that the two dunderheads wouldn't have the brains to listen to me. You, they may grudgingly listen to."

"So what am I to do?" she asked, "How does it work?"

Dumbledore slid open a drawer of his desk and brought out a Time Turner. "This is the Time Turner I have fixed, Miss Granger. It is in some ways the same as the Time Turners you are familiar with, and in some ways completely different." He pressed down on the center of the Time Turner and a few additional gold rings appeared. "This Time Turner can reach further into time. I could program it to send you back to the Founding of our illustrious school, or to five minutes ago. All of time is within my grasp. And you won't have a programed amount of time. Instead, I have charmed it to know when tasks are completed. After completion, it will bring you back to the moment you put it on. The same rules apply though, you mustn't let yourself be seen. And you must be careful of what you say and do so you do not irrevocably change the future for the worse. Do you understand?"

Hermione nodded, "So I am to return in time, what time?"

"A year before the battle. You will seek out Professor Snape. You will hand him this letter," he brandished a newly sealed letter, "and you will tell him you are there to help him. He will take care of the Hermione Granger in the current timeline, and you will take her place, until the task has been finished."

"What task?" she asked her heart speeding up in anticipation. Soon she would see Harry and Ron again.

"To make a potion that will protect us, Miss Granger. It will also give you a chance to correct any mistakes the boys have made. Spells they should have studied, things they should have been prepared for. Anything you can think of to make sure we have as much of an advantage as possible over Voldemort this time," he answered. "If you succeed, you will save us all."

Hermione nodded, "I'm ready." Dumbledore held out the note for her and she took it, tucking it into her bag with the rest of her things.

"Severus?" Dumbledore said holding out the Time Turner for him to take. "Activate it as I showed you." Snape pointed his wand at the Time Turner and mumbled a few words. Then, as the rings began to spin he put the necklace around her neck. "It will take you where you need to go so you have the greatest chance of succeeding."

"Good luck, Miss Granger," Snape said looking down at her. The last thing she saw were his dark eyes as she winked out of the Headmaster's office and plummeted into the past.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: _**_I forgot to add this in my first chapter, oops! I do not own any of these characters, if I did, SS would not have died...broke my heart. Anyway, just borrowing JK Rowling's brilliant world and characters to play :)_

_**Author's Notes:**__ I wanted to thank all who commented on the last chapter! It inspired me to write this chapter as quickly as possible :D Also, I'm looking for a beta, but have not found one yet, so please excuse any mistakes I may have missed in editing it myself! Thank you, and enjoy!_

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"What are you doing in that tree?" someone called and Hermione opened her eyes in shock. She was sitting in a tree. How had she gotten in a tree? Wasn't she supposed to be in Dumbledore's office? She looked down at the boy who had called to her. He was a sixth or seventh year, Slytherin, and he had black, greasy hair that would challenge even Professor Snape's.

"Um," she said, unsure of what to say. She shouldn't be seen, she knew the laws. "I'm not sure."

"Do you need help getting down?" he asked, his head cocking to the side in speculation.

"No thank you," she called down, "I'm fine." Hermione took out her wand and pointed it at the ground. She cast a cushioning charm and hopped from the branch, landing painlessly on the ground.

The boy raised his eyebrows, "Impressive. How have I never met you before?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, "You don't know who I am?" Perhaps he was more of an idiot than she first had surmised. Accepting his help likely would have been disastrous if he didn't even know who she was. Everyone knew who she was thanks to her friendship with Harry.

"Are you new?" the boy asked. Hermione shook her head 'no' and swiftly began walking towards the castle. How she had ended up outside, she did not know. Clearly there were things about this new Time Turner that even Dumbledore did not know, or had failed to mention. "Wait," he called catching up to her, "what is your name?"

She frowned at him in annoyance. She shouldn't be seen, couldn't he just leave her alone? "It's Hermione."

"I'm Severus."

Hermione stopped walking and turned toward him. "Severus?" He nodded and she paled, "What is your last name?"

He thrust out his hand, oblivious to her discomfort, "Snape, what's yours?"

"Snape," she whispered in shock, ignoring his hand. She took him in, horrified. "I'm Hermione Granger." She had traveled back much further than Dumbledore had meant her to. She lifted the Time Turner in her palm and shivered. What was she going to do?

"Oh!" Snape said, leaning in to peer at the Time Turner. "You have a Time Turner! I wanted one second year, but they denied my application."

"Hmm," she commented, lost in her own panicking thoughts.

Snape examined her, his eyes as inquisitive and all-seeing as ever. Well, it was nice meeting you," he said as he realized he wasn't wanted.

"Pro…Severus," Hermione said suddenly, "I have been away from Hogwarts for a while, can you show me where I can find Dumbledore?" She hesitated, how much of the school would be familiar to her? Could she indeed find the Headmaster's office alone?

Snape looked her over, as if trying to figure her out. "Yeah," he said finally, "I'll show you the way." As they walked up the steps to the castle he commented, "You know, you act rather odd for a Slytherin."

"A Slytherin?" Hermione asked with a laugh, "I'm not a Slytherin."

It was his turn to laugh now, "I find you in a tree, you are wearing Slytherin robes, but are not a Slytherin? You are very unusual, Miss Hermione Granger." Hermione shivered, hearing the man Severus would become in his address of her.

"I'm not…" she looked down and realized that she was indeed wearing Slytherin robes. She looked up and quirked her head, "So I am." He inclined his head, hiding a slight smile behind his hair and led her to the moving staircases. The one they were standing on detached itself and floated up a few floors.

"His office is just down that corridor," Severus said when the staircase reattached itself.

"Thank you," Hermione said, willing her nerves to settle down.

He nodded, "Maybe I'll see you at dinner tonight?" He smirked, "That is, if you haven't changed to different robes…"

She smiled awkwardly back at him and nodded before starting down the corridor. Severus Snape was being friendly, smiling, and perhaps flirting with her. She shook her head to clear it. She had more pressing things to think about, like how to get the Time Turner working again.

She reached the Headmaster's door and stared at it, willing Dumbledore to come out. When the gargoyle did not turn to allow her passage she started rattling off passwords. "Lemon cake? Lemon cookies? Lemon pops? There is always something sweet in his passwords… Lemon Drops?"

"It is actually Chocolate Frog Legs today, dear," Dumbledore said coming up behind her. The door opened and Hermione blushed in mortification.

"Headmaster, I have to talk to you about something very important," Hermione said and he appraised her with his sparkling eyes.

"Best come inside then, and tell me who you are." He led the way through the passage into his office and gestured for her to have a seat. "Now then, name first, and then we will get into the mystery of why I don't know you and how you managed to make it so far inside a castle you cannot call home."

"Hermione Granger, sir. Despite these robes, I am a Gryffindor. Seventh year. You gave me a Time Turner, one you had changed to help us win the battle against Voldemort. But it's broken, or maybe it's not broken, but it's not working as you said it would! I didn't know what else to do."

Dumbledore held up his hand, indicating that she should be silent. "May I see the device, Miss Granger?" Hermione slipped the Time Turner off and handed it to Dumbledore. He pushed his spectacles further up on his nose and studied the device. "Very interesting," he mused, "And I detect a charm? One that determines when you get to return to your time?"

Hermione nodded, "It was supposed to take me to a year before the battle, and I would help Professor Snape make a protection potion, but now I'm here. And he isn't even a Potions Master yet!"

Dumbledore mused over the device and then handed it back, "I believe, Miss Granger, that the device is working properly. Perhaps the me you know in the future did not realize all that this Time Turner could do. I see no indication of why it has taken you back to this time. I should trust, however, that it is in fact doing its job."

Hermione nodded slowly, "You did tell me that it would take me whenever I needed to make sure we had the best chance of survival."

"There you have it; you were brought here for a reason. Neither of us can be sure of that reason as of yet, but I am sure you will realize the significance later." He stood up, "I shall introduce you at dinner as our new student, perhaps you were studying at Beauxbatons? And you shall take your place among your students until the device has determined that you have fulfilled what you came here to accomplish."

"Sir, could I perhaps have some new robes? I am a Gryffindor in my time. I don't know why I have these robes on."

He shook his head slowly, "There is a reason you were sent to this time, Miss Granger. I can only imagine that there is also a reason you were wearing Slytherin robes and that you met young Mr. Snape first. I think, for now, you should allow the Time Turner to decide your path and follow it, see where it leads, and what mysteries it unshrouds."

Hermione nodded and the Headmaster showed her out. She followed the staircases to the library, grabbed _Hogwarts, A History_, and began reading. If nothing was going to go as planned, at least she could calm herself with her favorite book until dinner.

Hermione wandered into the Great Hall with all the other students when it came time for dinner. She found it odd to be not walking toward the Gryffindor table, but to the Slytherin table. As she sat down she caught sight of a red-haired Gryffindor who had just walked in holding the hand of someone who looked remarkably like Harry. She stared at them openly, realizing that it was James and Lily. Her heart raced, and she watched them for as long as she dared, knowing that when she returned to her time, she would show Harry her memory. He had so few memories of his parents, just the Mirror of Erised, a few photographs, and that awful memory of Snape's.

"So you stayed Slytherin after all," a voice drawled. Hermione turned to see Severus looking down at her with a smirk. He slid in next to her and filled his glass with pumpkin juice and took a gulp. "So which house were you thinking you were supposed to be in?"

"Gryffindor," Hermione said quietly and Severus stilled.

"Gryffindor, huh, home of the courageous, and brainless, and beautiful." He shrugged, "Well, at least you got that last bit down." He paused, his eyes running over her hair, "Except for that hair, it really is horrid."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll have you know I am the brightest witch of my age, I _am_ courageous though it is not my defining feature, and my hair is my hair. If you don't like it, don't look," she said coldly, turning away from him. Next he would start calling her a know-it-all, and she considered the benefits of being the same age as him. As a teacher she couldn't possibly hex him, but as his student? She smirked at the thought of hexing Snape.

Snape gave a quiet laugh and shook his head, "You may think you are a Gryffindor, Hermione, but I can see why you still wear our illustrious green and silver."

"Why is that?" she asked wishing he would just leave her alone, for the second time today. Or was it technically still today at all, since she had traveled dozens of years into the past?

"Because the Sorting Hat placed you here," he said, "And the Sorting Hat is never wrong." Her anger was put out as quickly as it had come. The sorting hat may not have put her here, but the Time Turner had brought her, and she was going to have to fit in somehow. That meant making friends. With Slytherins. With Snape. She nodded, and gave him a small smile as Albus Dumbledore got up from his place at the table to stand before the crowded hall.

"Good Evening Children," he called out, and the hall fell silent. "Before we start our dinner tonight, I would like to introduce a new student. Miss Hermione Granger has recently come from Beauxbatons and will be spending the remainder of her seventh year here at Hogwarts. As you can see, she has already been sorted into her house, please make her feel welcome." Hermione squirmed under the gazes of every student at Hogwarts. It was odd being a Slytherin, she decided. The entire Gryffindor table seemed to assess her with a measure of distrust and dislike, Ravenclaws seemed to be deciding if she was going to challenge their scores, which if she was going to be here for any lengthy amount of time, she certainly was going to do, but she could see in their faces that most had decided she was no threat. The only table which had any sort of reasonably familiar reaction to her was Hufflepuff. Their welcoming gazes were only to be expected. Then Dumbledore clapped his hands and the tables filled with food.

Hermione selected a large pasty and spooned herself some cooked carrots. She dug into her meal and after eating felt much better. She and Severus talked intermittently, which mostly consisted of him asking her questions and she answering. When she was finished, she informed him she was heading back to the common room and he asked, "Have you been there?"

She paused, "No, not yet."

He discarded his napkin on the table and said, "I'll show you where it is, and I'll teach you the password." She nodded, but was distracted by how half the table now seemed to watch them as they got up and left the table. She made not of it and planned to ask him about it later.

As they made the walk to the dungeons Hermione asked, "Severus, why are you being so nice to me?" She knew about his past, that he had taken the Dark Mark. She didn't know if he had taken it yet, but she had a hard time guessing his motivation for choosing to help her.

He shrugged, "You intrigue me. Most of Hogwarts is so easily explained. We are all little, nicely-wrapped packages. Syltherins being cunning and devious, Ravenclaws spouting their intelligence, Gryffindors and their stupidity. We study for classes, and then spit back out what we learn. Now the Dark Arts, that is exciting."

Hermione frowned at him and readjusted her bag on her shoulder, "How could the Dark Arts possibly be exciting? It may be thrilling to ponder, but I have seen some of those Dark Curses, and it is not one bit exciting."

They walked on in silence, but she could tell Severus was studying her. "Again intriguing," he said quietly after a while, "You seem like you have lived an exciting life."

She shrugged as they neared the Slytherin Quarters. "It depends on what you mean by exciting. If half the people you know, and most of the people you loved were taken from you, I wouldn't call that exciting. I would call it soul-wrenchingly sad."

"Pureblood," he said to the stone wall they had stopped in front of, and it rolled back to reveal the Slytherin Common Room. "Did something happen while you were at Beauxbatons?" he asked settling down into a chair.

"No," she said heading to the left staircase, "Good night."

"Girls are on the right," he said and she switched directions.

Hermione walked quickly upstairs, anxious to be alone. She was, however, disappointed when she opened the door and found three girls had already returned to their room.

"Hermione, right?" one of the girls asked, her thick, black braid slung over her shoulder and falling to her waist.

Hermione nodded warily, and the girl nodded, "That is your bed over there, your stuff has already been brought up." Hermione glanced over at the bed. There was a sealed letter on the bed as well as a trunk near the bottom of her bed. _Interesting_, she mused. She didn't have a trunk, so whose was this? "I'm Katie," the girl went on, "And this is Jaime and Kristen."

"Hi," Hermione said with a small smile. The girls went back to their hushed discussion and Hermione opened the letter on the bed.

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_ I see you have made it through dinner and have found your way to your dormitory. I have found you some suitable belongings for you, they are in the trunk. An Alohomora should be sufficient to allow you to open it. I have also taken the liberty of enrolling you in classes. I do not know what your received on your OWLs, but I hope none of these classes will tax you too much. You will find you have a common student in each of your classes, if you need help studying, consider asking him. _

_Good luck, _

_Professor Dumbledore_

Hermione sighed. She hoped the Time Turner would let her go home soon; she did not relish the thought of pretending to be a Slytherin for much longer.

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Notes: Young Severus and Hermione! How will they get on? More to come soon!


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione arrived at her first class well before the class was scheduled to start. She may not have been born during this time and she was no longer a Gryffindor, but she could not bear to have any second of her education be anything less than her all. It went against everything she was. So she found herself at her first class, which happened to be seventh-year Transfiguration, talking with her old Head of House about what she could do to catch up to the rest of the class.

"I do not accept just any student into my class," Professor McGonagall was arguing adamantly. "You have no records of your OWLs, and so I cannot allow you in this class, no matter the schedule the Headmaster _thinks_ would best suit you." Professor McGonagall turned away, ending the conversation.

Hermione, however, was not ready to give up. She belonged in this class. She may not have had much instruction as far as her seventh year went, having been destroying Horcruxes with Harry and Ron, but she certainly had gotten an Outstanding in Transfiguration. "Professor," she said, "I assure you I am a highly competent student, and what I do not already know, I will learn by myself."

"I'm sorry, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall started, but Hermione did not let her finish.

"I am fully able to cast any spells that you teach your first through sixth years. If you need proof, simply ask me to prove it."

Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow, examining her student. Finally she nodded, "Very well. The Bird-Conjuringcharm, if you please."

"_Avis_," Hermione said, flourishing her wand. Her flock of birds came twittering it, flying around Hermione in circles.

Professor McGonagall nodded and said, "Vanish them."

"_Evanesco." _The birds were gone and Professor McGonagall nodded.

"You may remain in my class for the time being, but if you fall behind, I will not hesitate to remove you."

"Thank you Professor," Hermione said satisfied. She would give McGonagall no reason to remove her from class.

"You can sit over there," McGonagall said pointing to a desk near the back right. Hermione nodded, displeased, but not wanting to push her luck. She always preferred to sit near the front. The students began filing in and Severus slid into a desk next to her.

"So the new Slytherin student has impressed the immovable Professor McGonagall," he said leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

Hermione shrugged, "She is only giving me a chance. I have no doubt if I fail even one test I will be removed." Then she smiled brightly, "I have never failed a test in my entire life."

He pursed his lips and nodded while staring at her. Finally he said, "You are right, you are not a Slytherin. Bragging about grades? You have to be Ravenclaw."

She smiled and rolled her eyes, "And yet, here I am. Still think the Sorting Hat was right?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Professor McGonagall beat him to it, "Mr. Snape, move. That is not your seat."

Severus narrowed his eyes fractionally at the teacher, but in a flash the irritated look was wiped from his face and he gave Hermione an amused, lazy smile before sliding out of the desk and finding his own seat. Professor McGonagall closed the door with her wand and began the lecture, and Hermione was lost in extensive note-taking.

Her next class was Potions, and Hermione again arrived early so the Potions teacher could effectively test her as well. Slughorn did little but smile and gesture that she sit down in a specific spot. "Mr. Snape is my most talented student," he said, pride for his student stretching over his face, "He will be happy to help you catch up to the rest of the students." Hermione sat down with a grimace. She knew Snape was a brilliant potion maker, but she had also personally seen his copy of_ Advanced Potion Making_. While she admitted that Harry had done better when using Snape's annotated copy than he ever had before, she didn't approve of the way Snape wanted to 'better' his books. She stared at her cauldron glumly; Severus was not going to be pleased.

When he sat next to her she glanced at him and he held up his hands as if to fend off her comments, "This actually is my seat this time."

She nodded, "Slughorn told me."

He raised his eyebrows at her and said, "So you chose to sit by me? I do have to warn you, I have a habit of producing perfect potions, so usually my partners like to sit elsewhere. Their grades tend to fair better if their potions are not directly compared with mine."

Hermione rolled her eyes. How arrogant. Served him right that he had been saddled with her, though she doubted she would need to ask him for much help. She was competent enough at potions, even if she wasn't 'perfect'. "I sat here because Professor Slughorn told me to. He mentioned that you would help me if I needed it."

She had expected Snape to resent the fact that he had to help her, but he shrugged. "It will be nice to have someone to conspiratorially whisper with. Well, someone with half a brain at least. Most of the students are bloody incompetent." He rolled his eyes, "Slughorn allows anyone who got Exceeds Expectations into his N.E.W.T classes. It would be so much better if only Outstanding students were allowed in, the Exceeds Expectations just hold us smarter students back."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. How exceedingly rude, even if she did half agree.

He paused, interpreting her facial expression incorrectly, "You got Exceeds Expectations, didn't you?"

"No!" she said with an insulted frown, "I received an Outstanding for Potions."

He nodded in relief, "Then you disapprove of my analysis?"

Hermione returned her eyes to her cauldron and finally said, "No, I don't. I think Outstanding students could learn a lot more, and a lot faster if the class were only for them, but don't you think that denying the chance for Exceeds to take Potions would be a terrible waste?"

He shook his head, "No. Potions is an art. Only those competent enough should be able to continue on."

Hermione shrugged, still not completely agreeing with him, but not willing to argue the fact any longer. After all, her personal experience was shading her view of the matter. Both Harry and Ron had received Exceeds, and without taking NEWT level Potions they could not hope to be aurors. Of course, she could not share this reason with Snape, so she stayed quiet.

The page number for the potion they were working on was written on the board and Slughorn announced that they could begin. Hermione got up to fetch the ingredients and she brought them back to her cauldron. She began reviewing the instructions, the rest of the sounds of the class blurring out as she focused. While peeling her shrivelfig she caught Severus staring at her.

"What?" she whispered and he shook his head.

"You had a good teacher," he whispered back. "Slughorn doesn't teach that method of peeling. His method isn't half as effective; you lose half of the juice." Hermione blushed, focusing on her potion. While he certainly had just complemented her, his future self was the one who would teacher how to peel correctly. He was almost complementing himself. Right after she was finished with step six, Severus leaned over and said, "Number seven should be Anti-clockwise, not clockwise."

"It says clockwise," she said stubbornly, irritated that he was so arrogant about knowing the "right way" to do the potion. He shrugged, stirring his anti-clockwise. With a sudden jolt she realized how annoying being a know-it-all was. No wonder Ron and Harry were irritated by her first-year self. But still, she stirred her potion clockwise.

When Slughorn came around to examine their potions he nodded at Hermione's, "A very well made potion, Miss Granger." Her delight died when he looked at Snape's, "And perfect as usual, Severus! Ten points to Slytherin for excellent work."

It was to his credit, Hermione supposed, that he did not brag about his superior potion on the way out. Instead, he asked, "So what class do you have next?"

"History of Magic," Hermione said smiling. Binns was the teacher, not surprising, which meant his lecture probably would put everyone to sleep, but that didn't change her love for the subject matter. There was just so much to learn about the history of witches and wizards.

Severus shook his head, "I'll walk with you then, since we seem to have all our classes together." Hermione suppressed a smile; she was not about to tell him that Dumbledore had arranged her schedule so that it did just that. "I've never met another Slytherin who enjoyed learning as much as you," he said, "I have to say, it is quite refreshing to have someone as eager-minded."

Hermione smiled back, "I know what you mean, in my, at my old school, no one wanted to study as hard as I did. And often my friends wanted me to do their homework."

"And I'll bet you did it, didn't you?" Severus asked laughing.

"If you say how Hufflepuff of me, I shall kick you," she warned, and Severus attempted to control the mirth on his face. "Sometimes," she blushed in embarassment, "Sometimes I made mistakes in their papers on purpose so they would get points taken off."

"No!" Severus said, holding in his amusement. He failed and burst out laughing, startling a group of passing Ravenclaws. "At last!" he crowed, "Your Slytherin nature is revealed!" Hermione laughed, agreeing with him. It had been quite Slytherin of her.

As they entered the classroom he pulled her along with him. "Binns lets us sit wherever we want. Come sit with me. We can entertain each other through his long lecture." Hermione took a seat next to Severus and pulled out her ink, quill, and parchment. The rest of the students filed into the class, followed by Binns who began lecturing upon entering the room. Hermione scribbled notes on her parchment, but was distracted by a piece of parchment that had been folded and charmed into the shape of a turtle that was making its way toward her. When it finally reached her parchment it stopped moving and plopped itself down, smearing one of her last words. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Severus, but he was focused on Binns, the only hint that he had sent her the message the small smile playing around his mouth.

Hermione unfolded the turtle and read, _You are taking notes?! Stop being such a Ravenclaw!_ Hermione couldn't help but smile. His teasing was getting ridiculous.

_Don't whine when I get a better score than you do on the next test_, she wrote back and shoved the letter back to him without bothering to fold it back up again.

_Is that a challenge?_ he scribbled back.

_Yes, if you'll start paying attention!_

_No need, his lectures come straight from the book. Reading is infinitely more interesting than listening to Binns. Come on, entertain me and I'll read History with you so we don't fail. _She sighed and he grinned at her, knowing he had won, at least for that lesson.

Hermione did not make many friends in the Slytherin house which was to be expected. She did not have the same logic or values as her house mates. The way someone gained popularity and acceptance in Slytherin was not through being a good person, or proving yourself brave, those were Gryffindor notions. Instead, popular Slytherins were those whose families had money or power, preferably both, and those who were cunning. Hermione watched people use their friends to make their own lives better in disgust. Jamie, one of the girls Hermione roomed with, used her knowledge of Kristen's crush on James Green to secure herself free homework whenever she wanted. And Katie used her knowledge of Jamie's blackmailing to earn a bit of cash on the side. No Slytherin was true friends with someone else just to be friends, they always had ulterior motives. But the real trick, those who were the most successful Slytherins, were those who didn't let you know they were manipulating you. Severus, for example, was highly skilled at turning situations in his favor. People constantly underestimated him, and yet he knew everyone's secrets, just waiting for the right opportunity to use the information in a way that was to his advantage. As he frequently reminded Hermione, knowledge was power. And while Hermione did not make friends with her fellow Slytherins because of her family's money or power, or for her ability to manipulate others, she did become good friends with Severus. She only hoped he didn't have any other reason for being her friend other than the fact that she was exciting.

One night as they were walking along the Black Lake after dinner they passed a group who stopped their chatter to stare at Hermione and Severus. "Severus," she began as soon as they were out of earshot of the group, "Why do people always stare at us like that?"

He sighed, "Bloody idiots should keep their eyes to themselves." They walked on, but Hermione was not willing to let the topic go so easily.

"Severus?" she asked tentatively, not wishing to irritate her only friend.

He sighed and stopped walking, "All right. But not here where just anyone can hear. And not without some assistance."

"Assistance?" Hermione asked confused, but he took her hand without answering and led her toward the Whomping Willow. Casting a spell to slow down its branches, he led her down the hole and through the path that led to the Shrieking Shack.

"Accio Firewhiskey," he called, summoning a bottle he had hidden. Hermione raised her eyebrows as he uncorked the bottle and took a few swigs. He drank the stuff like Butterbeer. He held the bottle out to her and she took a small sip. He smiled, as if amused by her reserved drink. "All right," he started with a sigh, "The reason people stare is because the last girl I hung out with…I did something terrible to her."

Hermione stilled, he was talking about Lily. She was sure of it. "What happened?" He made a choked sound and gestured for the bottle and took a few more gulps.

"I called her something I should never have called her, a rude name, and she hasn't forgiven me. So those people watching, they are just waiting for me to bugger up our friendship."

"You love her, don't you?" Hermione said softly, and he nodded, his eyes clouded.

"She's dating that pillock, James Potter."

Hermione smiled sadly, "I actually know how you feel." He looked sharply at her and she held out her hand for the bottle. After taking a slightly larger sip, she said, "One of my best friends, I loved him, but he was too much of an idiot to realize it. And then he started dating Lavender Brown, and snogging all over the place." She was surprised how painful it was to bring it up, even now.

"What happened?" he asked taking back the bottle. Hermione shivered, Ron's surprised, dead face surfacing in her memories, the smell of the battlefield. She couldn't stop the tears that rose in her eyes, though she kept them from spilling over.

"He died," she whispered. Severus stared at her for a minute as she struggled to compose herself.

"Come here," he offered, and she scooted over to him, placing her cheek against his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist. He held her while she fought back tears, his arm around her shoulder. When she finally was feeling better she pulled back and he offered her the Firewhiskey. She took a gulp that she knew would make him proud, and he took one himself. Then he pulled her to her feet and said, "We need some cheering up. Come on." He pulled her out of the Shrieking Shack, checking before leaving the Whomping Willow that no one was around to see them.

"Severus!" she whispered as he pulled her behind him toward the Forbidden Forest. "Where are we going! It's past curfew!"

He looked back at her and grinned, "Come on! We need some cheering, but I also don't want to be caught by McGonagall, she'll have Filtch string us up by our thumbs." She giggled, feeling the effects of the Firewhiskey. She was warm and tingling inside, and she let Severus pull her into the safety of the Forbidden Forest. She giggled again, the Forbidden Forest, safe?

"Okay," he said finally stopping. "So, you can choose. Should we find some Thestrals and ride them around, swim in the Black Lake and go tickle the squid? Perhaps steal some brooms from Madame Burbage, find the tallest point of the Hogwarts castle and stand on it, or duel?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him, "Duel?! Because bright light won't alert anyone that we are in the forest now, would it?"

He smiled, "Or we could try to find a unicorn. I hear there are a few in the forest."

Hermione wrinkled her nose. Ever since seeing that dead one her first year at Hogwarts, she had no desire to be around unicorns. Plus, she knew all too well the other kinds of creatures they could possibly come across in the forest. Then she had an idea. Her mouth quirked up at the end and Severus laughed. "I know that look. You've thought of something. What is it?" he asked.

She grinned at him, "I know how much you like exiting, mysterious things. Guess you'll just have to wait to find out!"

She flounced off toward the Black Lake and he followed, close on her heels. "_Glacius_," she whispered and began to freeze a large section of the lake. _"Altero,_" she whispered, modifying her clothes so they would keep her warm. Then she transfigured her shoes into bladed shoes, and sharpened them with _practus._ Then she stepped onto the ice and continued casting _glacius_. "Come on!" she called, casting _altero _on Severus' clothes and transfiguring his shoes as well. He stepped tentatively on the ice and she skated over to him. "Haven't you ever been ice skating?" she asked shocked and he shook his head. "Come on, it's easy," she said pulling him further onto the ice. He grabbed onto her forearms tightly as she pulled him along on the ice, showing him how to move his feet. Pretty soon he was able to skate along relatively well and they skated by each other, each challenging the other to go faster.

* * *

_**Updated Notes:** Hello wonderful readers! I received a message that the spells I used in this chapter were taught in Flitwick's class. As I was using Harry Potter Wiki to verify the spells learned in 6th year Transfiguration, I am not sure if they are correct. But the Wiki says:_

_"Professor Minverva McGonagall introduces this spell in her very first transfiguration with the fifth year students, giving them a lecture and then setting them on vanishing snails" ( wiki/Vanishing_Spell)._

_and_

_"Most of the class had already left, although several twittering yellow birds were still zooming around the room, all of Hermione's creation; nobody else had succeeded in conjuring so much as a feather from thin air."_

_—Harry looking to talk to Dean alone after Transfiguration class. ( wiki/Bird-Conjuring_Charm)_

_If anyone can point out in the books where these statements by the Wiki are found to be untrue, I would be most grateful! :) Thank you for reading!_

Notes: I know this chapter was REALLY long. But it was good long, right?! Chapter four shall follow soon 3 Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

A week later in History of Magic they got back the results of their first essay. Hermione was pleased to see that she had scored a full three points higher than Severus did. When he leaned over to examine her score he acknowledged her superior score with an incline of his head. During the rest of the class she caught him staring at her several times. And when she would turn to look at him in return she saw the frank respect and thoughtful consideration. After class ended, Hermione put away her notes and started out of the classroom.

"Hermione, where are you going?" Severus called as he hurried to catch up with her.

"The Library," she said not slowing her pace.

"Homework already?" he asked, teasing her.

She shook her head, smiling slightly, "No, I'm working on a side project."

Severus raised an eyebrow, "Well, now I have to come. Anyone who starts a side project their second week at Hogwarts is insane, and thus the project must be insane as well."

Hermione stopped, considering him for a moment. She knew many things now about Severus that she hadn't known about Snape that made her trust him more, but she also knew that sometime soon Severus would pledge himself to Lord Voldemort. Could she trust him? She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward a less frequented corridor. "My work is highly sensitive, and secret. You can join me in the library, look at it, and perhaps give your thoughts, but you can speak to no one about it. If you don't agree to those terms, and the fact that I will require magical assurance that you will not divulge details, then you can walk away now."

The corner of his mouth quirked up, "My goodness. You are more interesting than the whole of Slytherin house combined, even after your 'new girl' charm has worn off." He nodded solemnly, "How can I resist? Make what assurances you must."

She took out her wand, and pointed it at his chest, "_SecretumNotitia_." Then she nodded, satisfied, "You won't be able to speak about the information, or write it down. It may be slightly painful to try."

"Where did you learn that spell?" he asked as they began walking toward the library again.

"I made it," Hermione said slipping her wand back into her sleeve.

Severus smiled, "I was so worried that this year was going to be a bore. Most of my close friends have already graduated, and mischief is not half as fun when you don't have someone to share it with." Hermione smiled, knowing exactly what that felt like. Harry and Ron really had been bad examples on her. Then she lost the smile as she realized exactly who those "friends" were. Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, these were not the sort of people she wanted Severus to call friends. Shoving the thoughts back to the recess of her mind, she focused on the present.

"Come on," she said with a smile as she pulled open the door to the library. She went through the stacks and found the book she had been reading in her own time before Snape had interrupted her. She pulled the tome down with some difficulty and hefted it onto a nearby table. Then she flipped through the pages until she found the one she had stopped on. She glanced up to find Severus smiling at her fondly.

"What?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly feeling self-conscious. He shook his head, amused. "In the time I have known you I have seen you with a different book every day, sometimes with multiple books a day. I am beginning to think that you should just invest in your own library, rather than coming here. She rolled her eyes and pulled out her notes, handing them to Severus. "Read those," she instructed, "You'll figure it out better that way than if I explained it to you."

She watched him devouring the words on the page and smiled. If only Harry and Ron had devoured information like Severus did, study sessions would have been so much more enjoyable. For hours they sat, discussing the information, and much to her surprise, Severus understood the material and was willing to help. There was a small hope that if Dumbledore's plan didn't work, she would be able to fix the equation with Severus' help. Then when she returned to her own time she could save Harry.

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_A/N: Hello everyone! I just wanted to say thank you for keeping with me. I know this chapter was really short, but I didn't want to combine it with another chapter. __I am working on Chapter 5, and will upload it soon! And I promise Chapter 5 will be much longer._  


_I would also like to say thank you for the comments; your comments motivate me so much :)  
_


	5. Chapter 5

Day after day they spent their time in the stacks, trying to finish the equation together. Every spare moment outside of classes she would spend with Severus in the Library. The extra work didn't affect her classes; she was used to a full schedule. She reclaimed her spot as McGonagall's favorite, even though she was a Slytherin, and aced her tests in all classes.

It was frustrating though, she still could not get the equation for the spell exactly correct, and even with Severus helping she could not fix the problems. Never before had there been an equation she could not solve. But just when it seemed like she was making progress some variable she hadn't considered would complicate the equation. She and Severus spent a great deal of time together, and yet she found she did not mind spending time with him. As she had once dreaded going to detention and hearing his seething remarks in class, she now found herself making note of things she wished to tell him when they were not together. She also learned some rather interesting things she had not known about Snape. Severus, for example, was hopelessly in love with Harry's mom. He wouldn't talk about it, but she more than a few times caught him staring at the beautiful Head Girl.

But as the year drew to a close, she began to worry. She still had not returned to her time, and soon she and Severus would graduate from Hogwarts. While she was certain Severus had not already taken the Dark Mark, she knew it would happen soon. She grew impatient with Severus and his love of the Dark Arts, and as much as she tried to repress her feelings on the subject, she could not always stop her ardent dislike for the Dark Arts from creating arguments between them.

One night as they were leaving the library before curfew, Hermione was frustrated with the progress they were making. Severus calmed her with a smile, saying, "You'll get it Hermione. You are one of the smartest witches I know. You've come up with some brilliant ideas." He paused. "Perhaps I'll show you some of the stuff I have made," he mused and she shook her head.

"I have a feeling I would not approve of the spells and potions you make."

He cocked an eyebrow at her, "And why do you say that?"

She shrugged, not wanting to reveal that she already knew of his work through his potions book that Harry had found. _Sectumsempra_ was not a spell she cared to see ever again. Harry using it once was one time too many. "You do have a reputation, Severus. You are friends with some unsavory people. Bellatrix Black, Evan Rosier, Avery, Rodolphus Lestrange? I am not deaf. I know what you did with those 'friends' while they were still at Hogwarts. I cannot imagine that I would appreciate your projects if they follow the vein I think they do."

"And what vein is that?" he asked, his voice going cold.

Hermione stopped as they reached the bottom of the staircase that led into the dungeons and moved in closer to him, her lips by his ear, "Using the Dark Arts against people. Using them to serve the Dark Lord?"

She felt his body tense and when she pulled back, his face was carefully blank. This time it was his turn to grab her arm and pull her down a tiny corridor, away from the curious gazes of passing Slytherins. "How do you know about the Dark Lord?" he whispered fiercely.

"I know lots of things," she whispered back.

He shook his head. Then trying to convince her of the benefits of serving Lord Voldemort, he said, "You could learn so much more. As much as I will. The Dark Lord is the crux of all the knowledge I would ever desire, not limited by prejudice and fear of the Dark Arts."

She shook her head, frustrated that he did not see just how dark the road he was on would become, "The only reason you want to join him is because it is _exciting_. Because you live off what excites you. Well let me tell you something Severus Snape, one day you will grow up, and you will realize that everything you thought was exciting is cruel and dark, and the man you thought was mysterious and powerful doesn't even understand the basic idea of _love_. And you will see that all his ideas of Pureblood superiority are nonsense. And you will _yearn_ for a life that is less exciting. That I promise you."

"Why does it bother you _so_ much that I think Purebloods are superior?" he shot back, "You are a Slytherin. Our entire house feels that way."

"Because I _am_ a Muggle-born!" she hissed back. "Am I any less competent than you? Do I not surpass almost everyone at this school in every subject? How does my birth make me any less than a Pureblood?" She paused to take a breath, "Two of the best people in your life are Muggle-born, Severus. Your friend, and the girl you love, both Muggle-born, both outstanding witches, both women with incredible capacities to love. Just open your eyes!"

"Do not presume to tell me what the best things in my life are," he snarled at her. "You may think you know me, but I assure you, you do not. So do not presume to tell me whom I love and how I should act." He stalked away from her, his robes flowing in a way only he could induce. Hermione felt her eyes prick uncomfortably. There was Snape. In that moment she saw him transform from young, mildly happy Severus into Snape, Death Eater and Potions Master. She knew she had gone too far. She shouldn't have tried to stop him from becoming who he was meant to be. The Order needed someone in Voldemort's inner circle. Without Severus on their side, things would be much worse than they already were. She started after him, wanting to apologize for getting too carried away. She felt something fluttering around her neck, and she picked up the Time Turner, realizing that it had started to turn. "No," she whispered, panicking. She pulled her book bag tight against her body and ran in the direction Severus had gone, calling his name frantically. She had to find him. She had to tell him…

The Dungeons were silent as Hermione disappeared through time and space once again. No one noticed the peculiar manner in which she left. Nor did anyone question why she did not attend her classes the next day, or the day after. No one cared when her trunk was removed from her room, and her name crossed off the role list. No one except Severus Snape who sat in class day after day, thinking of the girl he had driven away from Hogwarts. A second Muggle-born friend whose friendship he had injured permanently. The knowledge tortured him, and though he searched for her when he left Hogwarts, he could not find her. And his despair drove him deeper into the clutches of the Dark Lord.

* * *

_A/N: Where did Hermione go? What did she want to tell Severus? What will happen when the Time Turner stops spinning again? More to come soon!_


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione blinked and braced a hand against the wall to steady herself. She quickly surveyed her surroundings and was at once relieved by the familiar Scottish castle. She was in Hogwarts, that much was evident as students bustled past her in the large corridor. The _when_ was much less obvious. She peered at the students, and was immediately thankful that she recognized some of them. Perhaps she had at last been sent to the right time?

Lavender Brown turned the corner and walked down the hallway, and Hermione raised her eyebrows. Not her first choice of a person to chat up about what year it might be, but at least she would be more pleasant than having to talk to a Slytherin. She smirked. Only minutes ago she had been a Slytherin herself. Some good had come from being a Slytherin for so long. Surely her experience would give her enough cunning to pull the information she needed out of Lavender. "Hi Lavender," she said stepping out into the main hallway and falling in stride with Lavender.

"What do you want?" was the terse reply.

Hermione held back a victorious smile, that had been much too easy. She was in sixth year; the infirmary incident had already happened . At least she wouldn't have to watch any more messy snogging between Lavender and Ron. "Oh, I just wanted to say hi. We have not talked in a bit."

Lavender scowled at her, "I have no interest in talking to you at the moment."

The incident was still fresh then. Hermione nodded, solemnly, "Okay, well I'll talk to you later." Lavender gave her a peculiar look, nodded once more, and walked away. Hermione turned with a smirk and went in the opposite direction. She had a letter to deliver to Severus. No. Professor Snape, she reminded herself.

She wondered briefly if he remembered their time together, and if he had forgiven her for saying such rash things. As she walked down the steps, she thought that he likely had not. Why else would he have been so awful to her for the past seven years, well six years at this time, but seven in her time. She walked to the potions classroom door and stopping, finding him at his desk. She smiled as she saw him sitting there flipping through a stack of essays, his quill flying. Likely taking off points and making scathing remarks. She stared at him, eyes going over his long, dark hair, pale skin, and hooked nose. His dark clothing with too many buttons hid the Dark Mark she knew was underneath the many layers. Although she remembered what he looked like, she now could see Severus beneath his spikey, cactus-like personality, and greasy exterior.

"Don't just stand there Miss Granger, kindly inform me why you have taken up residence in my doorway," he snapped not looking up from his papers. She walked into the classroom, stopping halfway between the door and his desk. She wanted to see if he was going to be Severus or Professor Snape before she got too close. When she said nothing, he looked up and sneered at her, "Are you here to argue with another grade perhaps?" She shook her head, smiling as she was reminded that he had admitted several times that she was brilliant. It was so nice to remember that he thought she was exceptionally talented; it helped to wash away all the years of abuse she had suffered in this classroom. "Why are you gawking at me, you stupid girl? I assure you I have no desire to see your beaver teeth revealed any more than necessary."

She frowned at him then, "That that is not fair Severus, I fixed my teeth third-year, which you well know!"

His face was deadly still and Hermione took a nervous step backward. She had just called him Severus. And argued with him. She quickly dug in her bag, her hands shaking. "Sorry sir, Dumbledore wanted me to give you this." She held out the letter, and although he did not look pleased with her use of his first name, he got up and snatched the letter from her. He also wasn't screaming at her, or taking points from Gryffindor, which was always a good sign. He gazed at her thoughtfully before turning his intense eyes on the letter. He ripped open the letter and scanned the contents quickly, then he returned his gaze to her, considering her.

"Miss Granger, this letter says you came from the future. That the Time Turner you used sent you from the end of your seventh year at Hogwarts. Is this true?"

She inclined her head, "Yes sir, but the device did not work as the Headmaster thought it would. It took me back in time first. I just came from when you were a seventh year."

He stared at her, his dark gaze unreadable. "It's you," he said finally the realization dawning in his eyes. She nodded, her eyes misty. She launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his waist.

"I'm so sorry," she said, wishing fiercely that she had never said those things to him. Things he probably hated her for saying.

Severus was taken aback. She was hugging him, her face pressed against his chest. He had missed her, these long years, but he had not realized just how much he had missed her until she was against him. He wrapped one tentative arm around her, and with the other he closed and warded the door. No nosy Slytherin should accidentally see this scene. Who knows what sort of nonsense they would brew seeing Potter's best friend embracing a Death Eater. "You were not wrong," he said softly, putting his wand away. "I was young and full of pride. And I did regret becoming a servant of the Dark Lord, I still do."

She stepped back and wiped her eyes, "I knew I was right. But I still shouldn't have said it. I wish I hadn't. And I didn't mean to leave. I wanted to tell you the truth, and to warn you."

"To warn me?" he asked confused.

"About Lily," she said quietly.

He nodded once, his face a stormy sheet, masking his emotions just barely. She watched them writhe just below the surface until he mastered them. Then he shook his head, "If you had warned me it would have changed history too much."

She nodded, "Yes, but they could have lived. Harry could have parents. The woman you love could still be alive."

He shook his head, adamant, "The Dark Lord's demise gave Mr. Potter enough time to grow old, to be able to challenge him. Now they are on more equal footing. And besides, Lily was never mine. I may have loved her, and in a way I always will, but she never would have been mine, even if she would have lived."

Hermione did not know how to take that last part. She knew from Harry that the reason Severus had always protect them, had always put himself in danger, was because he loved Lily so much. She shook the thought aside and addressed the first part of what he had said, "In my time, a year and a half or so from now, we lost the battle. Harry was never a match for Voldemort. Voldemort has Harry, and although the Headmaster protects him, it is killing Dumbledore."

Severus was quiet for a moment, then he raised an eyebrow, "The equation. The equation we worked on, it is a spell to help Potter, isn't it?" She nodded, glad that he remembered. "I've continued working on it," he said, his gaze revealing nothing.

"How?" she asked, "You couldn't talk about it or write it down!" He tapped his temple, a small smile lifting the corner of his mouth. She shook her head, amazed. She didn't think he could work it over in her head, she who had drafted the equation. He lifted the letter and said, "I am going to go take care of your current self, as the letter bids. Know where I can find her?"

"What day is it?"

"Tuesday, just after midday," he offered.

"I should be in Arithmancy."

He nodded, pulling out his wand and unlocking and unwarding the doors silently. He turned back before opening to door, "Please wait here, Hermione, there is much I would like to discuss before you leave." She smiled and nodded. He swept from the room and she settled down at a chair to wait.

* * *

_A/N: A hug! Now we are getting somewhere! Well...not really. Because i'm evil. :) I hope you enjoyed chapter six, more to come soon!_


	7. Chapter 7

Severus returned a while later and he locked and warded the door behind him when he came back in. "I went to see Dumbledore," he almost growled, sinking into a chair.

"And?" she prompted standing to come closer to him.

He scowled at her, "And he _knew_. All these years and he _knew._"

"Knew what?" she asked confused. He passed a hand over his face, as if to scrub the tiredness from it.

"I thought you had left because of me Hermione." He was quiet for a moment, gathering his words. Then he spoke, his voice raw with his emotion, "By the time I realized what an arrogant ass I had been, it was too late. You were gone." He stood and started pacing around the room, his robes billowing.

"After the Dark Lord was defeated I hoped that I could lead a more normal life, maybe make up for some of the things I had done. And I knew I had to start with you. I had to find you, to beg you to forgive me, and perhaps beg to try our friendship again. But I could not find you." He shot a look at her and stopped walking, his intense gaze focused on her. "And then, years later, when I had given up hope, a girl came to Hogwarts. She had your name, and she looked so much like you. I knew it was your daughter. I asked Dumbledore to find her mother, you, for me, as I had been unsuccessful. But he told me that she, that you had told him you didn't want to see me." He resumed pacing, not able to look at her any longer.

"And evil bastard that I was, I hated her for it. That you were out there somewhere and refused to see me, it killed me. And then she, then you were exactly like…yourself, and it reminded me every day of the terrible way we parted. And of course, who would you be friends with but Harry Potter, the spitting image of James." He snorted, "And of course you were a Gryffindor, what you had always maintained you were." He did not look at her, "It look me much too long to realize that you were not her daughter, but you were _you_. When you got the Time Turner your third year I began to suspect that it was you, and you looked more like my Hermione. And then at the Yule Ball I was almost positive it was you. And I wanted to shake you for being so Hufflepuff, for dealing too nicely with those dunderheads you call friends. But it wasn't until last year that I knew for certain. When during Legimency lessons with Potter I saw how you acted with your friends, outside of class. And I knew it was you." The soft look on his face hardened. He snarled, "Dumbledore knew this whole time that you were you. While I begged him to find you. While I treated you abominably." He sagged back into his chair, the tension slowly leaving him. He sighed, "Meddlesome old man."

Hermione smiled kindly at Severus, "I always wondered why you hated me so much."

"I didn't hate you," he said softly, unable to look at her, "I hated myself." Hermione stopped breathing for a moment. He had seen so much unhappiness since she had last seen him, and it made her ache with sadness. She stood up, walking around his desk to stand behind him.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him from behind, "It is long past, Severus."

He patted her hands on his chest, "You are too forgiving. So Hufflepuff of you." She smiled at his half-attempt at familiar teasing and laid her chin on his shoulder.

"Some deserve more forgiveness than they are given," she said pointedly, knowing all the things he had done for them. She breathed in his scent, glad to be back with him. Then suddenly she realized that perhaps it was a bit much to be hugging him for this long. While she counted him as a friend now, he was still her teacher. She didn't know if he even appreciated her touching him in such a familiar manner. She stepped away, expecting him to tease her for hugging him, but he didn't say anything. She smiled, wondering how the Hermione of this time would react to seeing her embrace Severus. "What did you do with the other me?" she asked realizing that she hadn't told her.

"She is sleeping," he said.

"Sleeping?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He inclined his head, "I informed Madame Pomfrey that you needed to take a very long nap."

"But no one can see me sleeping in the infirmary!" Hermione said, shocked that he had not thought of it.

He half-frowned at her, "Of course not Hermione, I am not an idiot. You have been concealed. Madame Pomfrey has been apprised of the situation." He frowned again, this time with more venom, "As has Dumbledore. I assume you know what this letter says?"

She nodded, "We are to work together, and I am to better prepare Harry and…" she choked a bit, "and…Ron."

Severus regarded her, seeing through her easily, "Mr. Weasley dies then?" She nodded, tearing up. She wasn't sure if she could handle seeing them again without crying or without telling them what happened in the final battle.

Severus nodded, "I shall assume by the way you are not crying all over me that I am still alive?" He paused, "Or you don't care that I am dead."

Hermione smacked his shoulder, "How could you say that? Of course I would care! I may not have known you as long as I have known Ron or Harry…" She paused screwing up her face, "Or, I guess I have? I don't know, time makes it all confusing. But you are my friend Severus. We were friends then, and I can still see the Severus I knew then in you, so if you are agreeable to having a student as a friend, I would be very happy to be yours." She stared at him and he openly stared back, "Though I have to say, I like the older Severus better, I don't imagine I'll have to talk him out of wanting to dabble in the Dark Arts."

He grimaced, but then said, "So I am alive then."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Yes, alive. But I'm not telling you any more than that." She paused, "Speaking of, what is our plan, oh clever Slytherin?" He laughed and she almost jerked back, startled at the sound of his laughter. She was frozen, his deep voice rolling over her, raising delicate goose bumps on her arms. She felt a slight twist inside her belly and for a moment she forgot to breathe. She blinked as he stopped laughing, the sudden spell broken.

"Let's discuss that over tea," he suggested raising an eyebrow, and she agreed with a slight nod.

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_A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to all who read this! It makes me so happy that you all are enjoying it so far! I shall hopefully have another update up soon :D_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N:**__ Just a reminder for any readers, if you are a guest I cannot answer any of your reviews :) So thank you for reviewing, but those of you who ask questions, like the person who said: "Do you have any recommendations for me for stories like this one while waiting for a new update?" I cannot answer you :( However, since I mentioned that question, I shall address it right here. I am a HUGE H/S fan, so I suggest making your way through this collection of H/S fanfics: post/16608736592/recommended-snape-granger-fanfict ion. I have read a sizable chunk, and have loved 90ish% of them. Some really wonderful gems on this site :D _

_As always, thank you for reading, and enjoy! :)_

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Severus snapped his fingers, summoning a house elf. "Tea," he said curtly as he finished putting away the essays he had been working on. He didn't bother to look at the elf, he knew from the distinguishing 'pop' that the elf had arrived.

"Yes, sir, Professor Snape, right away."

"Thank you," Hermione said kindly and Severus glanced at her as she smiled sweetly down at the elf. The elf looked from Severus to Hermione, startled, then he gave a squeak before disappearing again. Severus shook his head in amusement. She was too kind, too lovely to be touched by the darkness this world held.

But she was stronger than she immediately appeared. His stomach dropped. She had lived through the battle. He wondered if she had used dark spells to protect herself that day. If she had killed, like he had so many times. He desperately hoped she had not. He knew all too well what sort of black shade it could cast upon a soul. A lump formed in his throat as she transformed one of the potion tables into a quaint dining table. She pulled out a chair and settled down to wait for the house elf's return. Severus pulled out the accompanying chair and sat down, just as the elf appeared, a tray teetering in his small hands. A full afternoon tea was placed before them, complete with scones and clotted cream, which he knew was one of Hermione's favorites. She smiled at the house elf as he finished setting the food and tea on the table.

"Thank you, Curley," she said with a shining smile.

The elf held up his hands as if to ward her off. "No clothes!" he cried before disappearing. Severus fought hard not to let the smile touch his face. Her continued attempts on the house elves had obviously not gone well. But as she blinked a few too many times he realized she was fighting tears. She poured herself tea and added sizable splashes of cream and sugar before stirring the tea.

Then she shook her head slightly, as if trying to clear it, before taking a sip of her tea. "Does it bother you?" he asked, knowing full well that it did.

"Does what bother me?" she asked, a bit too brightly.

"That they don't appreciate your kindness." She froze, then forced herself to reach for a scone. He waited patiently as she cut it open and spread clotted cream and jam onto the scone.

"It is disheartening," she said carefully.

"Why?" he asked, at last asking the question he had started this conversation to ask. He poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip. He preferred his tea without all the extra sweetness that she did. She gave him a stricken look.

"Oh Severus," she said brightening again, "You don't want to hear me talk about S.P.E.W., even Harry and Ron get annoyed."

He frowned at her, "I just asked, didn't I?" He was silent, waiting for her to answer.

She took a bite of her scone and finally answered, "I can't help but notice some similarities between house elves and Muggleborns. They both are discriminated against. If I can't even convince elves that they should be outraged at their treatment, how can I hope to convince the Ministry of Magic that we should improve the lives of Muggleborns?"

He inclined his head, she did have a point. He could see where she saw the similarity, and she had fought to prove herself her entire time here. To prove that she was every bit as powerful and capable as a Pureblood, but _Merlin_. Couldn't the woman choose something less intense than conquering age old prejudices and inequality? She wasn't even out of school yet! He shook his head and she frowned.

"What? Do you not approve?"

He smirked, "Of you freeing house elves? Of course not, but I was thinking that you are very ambitious. Brightest witch of her age, saving Harry Potter from the Dark Lord, killing the Dark Lord, freeing House Elves, and improving the lives of Muggleborns. Your to-do list is…daunting."

She raised her chin, "Someone has to do it." He nodded, hiding a smile in his tea cup. "Our plan?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes," he agreed, "the plan." He unbuttoned his frock coat, taking it off and draping it on the chair behind him. He felt Hermione's eyes on him, and he tried to ignore the tingle that shot up his spine. He continued as if he had noticed nothing, "You will tell your friends that you have a special project with me. You will come down here every night after dinner. You and I will practice, much as you did with Dumbledore's Army, only now you will have a proper teacher to train you."

She bristled, "Harry was a wonderful teacher!"

He waved his hand, dismissing her outburst, "Potter is powerful, and it may be that he helped some inept students become…less inept, but I have several years on Potter, several years of dealing with the Dark Arts and the Dark Lord, and I am a real teacher." She could not deny that what he said was not true, and she stayed quiet. "You will study with me, and then you will transfer what you learn in these lessons to your friends. Any classes you do not have with Potter and Weasley in which I have a free period we will pull you out of, and we will work on your equation then." She nodded, quiet, and he could tell something was bothering her. "What?" he asked patiently.

She flicked her eyes to him, startled that he read her so well. Ron and Harry never would have guessed that something was wrong. "I don't know if I can do this," she said slowly.

He frowned, "You have always balanced a large workload; you will be fine."

She shook her head, indicating that he had interpreted her words wrong, "No, it is not that. It's just…" she paused, playing with the crumbs on her plate. "I don't know if I can handle seeing them."

He nodded, at last understanding. "You have to, Hermione. And if you need help, just come to me."

She nodded, then stood up. "Thank you, Severus," she said quietly, "This will be so much easier knowing you know who I really am." He nodded, wanting to go to her, to pull her into his arms and save her from having to do this, but instead he stayed frozen in his chair as she left his classroom.

Hermione wandered the hallways, her stomach churning. She had wanted to stay there with Severus, but knew if she didn't leave it would just get harder. She had to face Harry and Ron soon. She headed to the portrait of the Fat Lady, not even sure what the password was, but she did not make it there before running into Harry and Ron. They came around the corner and almost bumped into her.

"Hermione!" Harry said, stopping to greet her. "What happened? Why did Snape pull you out of class?"

Hermione forced herself to smile, "Oh, he just wanted to talk to me about a project."

"A project?" Ron asked.

"I applied a month ago to do an independent study project with him. He wanted to tell me he liked my idea and we discussed the particulars."

Harry frowned, "Why would you want to do a project with _him_?"

Hermione glared at him, "Harry James Potter, do not let your dislike of him shade the irrefutable facts. He is a great wizard."

"And those facts are?" Ron questioned.

"That he is a mean, greasy git," Harry replied with a smirk.

Hermione glared at both of them, "No. That he is a brilliant, powerful wizard who knows a lot more than most of the teachers here. I can learn more about what we will need to know to defeat Voldemort from him than from any other professor here. And that includes the Headmaster."

Harry shrugged, "I guess, but I wouldn't want to put up with him just to learn a few things."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "I know you wouldn't. You would just give up, even though the need to learn is dire and perhaps live-saving."

"I didn't _give up_, Hermione. He kicked me out."

She snorted, "Yes, and I can see why. You are stubborn as a mule, and you don't show him any respect. Your attitude isn't much improved from his." She sighed, "It makes no difference what you think of him. It is my decision. I'll be working with him every night."

Ron's jaw dropped, "Every night? But 'Mione! Who will help us with our homework?"

She glared at him, "I am neither your personal homework tutor nor your mother Ronald. You will just have to do it without me." Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and Hermione read into their nonverbal agreement. "And don't think you can just not do it!" Another look was exchanged. "Your homework is important!"

Harry snorted, "Yeah, but I can also find a dozen other things more important than a few boring exercises."

Hermione glared at him, but then softened and inclined her head. "There are other things that are important. But you never know what you will need in the battle against Voldemort, and I may not always be by your side to help you. And then you will have to use your own brain."

Harry groaned, "Hermione, you know we are no good at remembering everything that you do."

"Well you are just going to have to try harder!" she snipped. "I want you to reinstate Dumbledore's Army. I want to spend every Saturday in the Room of Requirement."

Ron groaned, "Can we at least have some Saturdays off to go to Hogsmeade?"

Hermione shot him a look. "Why? So you can get a Butterbeer, ogle Madame Rosmerta, and participate in pointless tomfoolery? No." She stared him down, knowing she had to convince them, "He is out there Ronald. Right now. Preparing. I can assure you he isn't wasting time eating sweets and chasing the affections of slopping-kissing girls. The war is coming and we all have to be prepared. Or we will lose."

Ron grinned and clapped Harry on the back, "But we have the Chosen One!"

She shook her head, irritated by his stubborn idiocy, "Just because he is chosen doesn't mean he won fail. And it doesn't mean that the chosen one's friends won't die. I don't want to lose anyone I love in this battle. We will prepare, and we will live. So every night I'm with Sev…Snape, you will do your homework for class as well as any extra homework I leave for you. And Saturdays we will practice in the Room of Requirement." She shot Harry a look, "Let everyone know." He nodded and she almost sighed in relief. Ron opened his mouth to argue, but she raised a hand to stop him, "Don't bother Ron. I'm going to take a bath and prepare some things for tomorrow."

"You aren't coming to dinner?" Harry asked and she shook her head.

"I'm not hungry. I'll see you both later."

As they headed in opposite directions she heard Ron whisper, "Some things never change. Hermione is still just as bossy as she was first year."

"Yeah, but think about it mate, if we were more dedicated to preparing she wouldn't have to be so bossy."

Hermione smiled, he had that right. She didn't like bossing them around, but if she didn't they would resort to their fun-loving, teenage selves with nothing on their minds but Wizards Chess, Quidditch, and snogging girls. They didn't have time for that stuff anymore, not if she was going to change the future. Thinking about all the things they were going to need to learn, she headed up to the common room to find a decent hot bath.


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N:**__ Sorry it took me so long to upload this chapter, but it's a long one! I hope you all enjoy :) Thank you for reading!_

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Hermione went to her classes the next day, hoping it wouldn't be too boring to repeat classes. It was almost strange how easily she fell back into her old schedule. While being in classes was easy, her interactions with some of the people who had died during the battle was not, Harry and Ron most of all. She had a tendency of forgetting why she was here when she was with them. She couldn't risk letting her guard down, she couldn't allow them to know she was from the future, they couldn't know their fates. But somehow, she promised herself, she would save them. She was relieved when it at last came time for her to go to the Potions classroom after dinner. Soon she would be with Severus and she wouldn't have to pretend.

When Hermione walked into his classroom that night Severus knew she had had a rough day. It was etched all over her face. He stood about to go to her, wanting to help her, but paused, unsure of what to do.

Thankfully she solved that problem for him. She flicked the door closed with her wand and said, "Severus, I'm sure you have a lesson plan already written, but would you mind terribly if we dueled instead? I can't think too much right now, my emotions are too raw." He raised an eyebrow at her unspoken words.

Well, he had no desire to sit here with her while she tried not to cry, and a workout would do him some good. He finally nodded and she threw down her book bag and took out her wand. Did she think they were going to duel here? That would be a worse idea than leaving Longbottom alone with a cauldron. He shook his head, "Not here." She put away her wand. He took his own out and locked the door into the classroom. He then walked to the back of the classroom and opened the door that only opened for him and Dumbledore. He held it open for her and after she walked in he followed, closing the door firmly behind him. "Follow the passage," he instructed and she walked ahead of him through the narrow passage that was just wide enough for one person. When she came to another door she tried opening it, but couldn't. Severus ground his jaw in irritation; he had to open the door. Of course by being polite, he had placed Hermione firmly in his way.

"I'll have to open it, Hermione," he said and she turned around, much too close to him. Then she pressed her soft body against his and her hands came up to grasp his waist as she maneuvered past him. Severus momentarily forgot how to breathe as her body slid against his. He ground his teeth as he fought the wave of heat that swept through his body like _fiendfyre_. Really it had been much too long since his last witch. He wouldn't have reacted this strongly to her otherwise he was sure, which only made him feel worse. He may have met her when they were the same age, but he was nearly 20 years older than her now. But the fire faded when she stopped touching him, and when he was fully in control of his impulses he opened the door and led them out into the night. As with the first door, Severus pushed the door shut after Hermione.

She looked up at him, "Where are we going, Severus?"

"Somewhere safe," he assured her, "You have apparated before, am I correct?" She nodded. "It will be easier if we do a Side-Along. Are you comfortable with that?" he asked, unsure if she had done Side-Along before. She gave him a look that said of course she was, and then pressed herself against him, one arm tight around his back. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and with a crack they left Hogwarts.

They apparated to a place Severus had been coming for years. He would often come here after his meetings with the Dark Lord to think before he reported to Dumbledore. It helped to organize his thoughts, to separate himself from the situation. That was only when he left the meetings with the ability to still stand. More often than not now, the Dark Lord was not pleased with him and expressed his disapproval with heavy use of the _cruciatus_ and other, less savory spells.

He looked down at Hermione, curious what she thought of his sanctuary. Hermione was examining the scenery with distrust. "Are you sure this is safe?" she questioned.

He nodded, "It is more safe than any other place I know, except for Hogwarts," he said, which was true, even of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Too many people knew where that was. But here? This spot was all his, and he had taken extensive steps to protect it from any other wizards coming here.

"It's, um, an odd sort of place," she said, and in fact it was. It was the remains of an old castle. In the 1600s it had belonged to Edmund Spenser, but the Irish had burned down his home and this was all that remained of his estate, a few stone walls, a set of stairs and miles and miles of crops.

"We will duel here," he said, taking out his wand. She took out hers as well and raised it, ready for what he would send at her. While he knew she was a capable witch, he was not sure just how capable she was, so he started off easily, testing her ability to block _expelliarmus_ and _stupefy_. Then he moved on to stinging jinxes and other slightly painful spells, still moving slowly so he wouldn't catch her by surprise before he figured out what her abilities were. But her patience snapped and she switched from being on the defensive to the offensive.

She was fast, and using a good variety of spells. He blocked them, or sent them wheeling harmlessly by, and then he attacked, using more of his full dueling ability this time, and when it did not phase her, he disapparated to a different spot and attacked from behind her, but she was ready and dove out of the way of his stinging jinx while casting a spell of her own. He then let loose, giving himself over to the rhythm of the fight. Spells flashed over the field as they dueled in the near darkness. Then Hermione was hit, one of his spells catching her in the shoulder. She fell to the ground and Severus went cold. He apparated by her side, but she was already sitting up.

"I'm fine," she said getting up. She was most certainly not _fine._

"We should stop Hermione," he said, examining her shoulder, "That needs to be treated."

"I'm fine," she said, frowning at him and raising her wand. "You know as well as I do that during a battle you don't have the luxury of stopping just because you have been injured."

He stared at her for a moment then nodded, "Only for a bit more, then we will need to get to Madame Pomfrey." She cast a spell at him in response, almost before he was ready. Spell after spell she hurled at him, but he didn't send anything more powerful than a stinging jinx back.

"Stop that!" she yelled at him.

"Stop what?" he asked blocking a nasty curse that she shouldn't have known.

"Stop taking it easy on me!"

He frowned, "You are injured; I am not going to risk injuring you further!" She glared at him and he could feel her powers gathering, could almost see them as they pulled around her, and then were released in a fantastic gust of hot wind that knocked him backwards a few steps. He stared at her in astonishment as she breathed heavily, trying to lock down the anger that was making her magic erratic and wild. The crops around her had been flattened in a perfect circle, its diameter stretching several yards. He stared at her with a considerable amount of worry. Something had happened during the battle, something that had changed her. He made a mental note to explore this more fully at a later date so she could be prepared and could control her power surges. He walked toward her.

"Come on," he said holding out an arm. She tucked herself into his side and he apparated them back to Hogwarts.

As she leaned against him she said, "Severus, my shoulder really hurts." He grimaced and nodded. As it should, great chunks had been taken out of it. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off it would be hurting more.

"We'll go to Poppy right now. Would you mind terribly if I _mobilicorpus_ and disillusioned you?" She shook her head, understanding that they shouldn't be seen together like this. It would raise too many questions. He cast the spells and then began the walk to the Hospital Wing. "You do understand we are going to have to talk about what happened tonight?" he asked.

"Yes," was her quiet reply.

He nodded, "I would suggest thinking on it while you are treated. While it is still fresh. Why do you think it happened, what triggered it? How did it first appear? Why did it happen? Think about how you feel while it happens. All of the variables." There was no answer, but he knew she was already examining her actions, a response wasn't necessary.

When they reached the Hospital Wing Madame Pomfrey came quickly over. "Severus," she exclaimed, "What is wrong? What shall I need?"

He held up a hand to silence her, "It is not me tonight. Are there any students here?"

She nodded, "Colin Creevey came down with a fever, but he is heavily sedated and Mandy Pearle is asleep next to him. Poor girl hasn't been getting enough sleep. Studying too hard…"

Severus cut her off, "My real question was: Will any students hear what confidential information I have? I do not need a rundown of every student here." She nodded and led the way to her office. Once in, Severus closed the door and removed the spells from Hermione.

Poppy gasped, "Merlin! What happened to the girl?"

"The Gouging Spell, I would imagine," Hermione said smiling at Severus.

"Stop smiling," he said crossly, "I could have done you worse damage."

Poppy gasped, "Y…y…you did this?!" Then she grew angry, "Severus Snape, you should know better than to practice such things with students! You could have killed her, what were you thinking?!"

He rubbed his temples wearily, "Just heal her Poppy, ask questions about my idiotic choices later." She glared at him and huffed her disapproval, but set about her job.

"The shirt'll need to come off dear," she said pulling out a few bottles and examining their labels. Hermione started to pull up her shirt, but couldn't manage well with one hand. Severus turned toward to the door. It wasn't appropriate for him to stay any longer.

"Severus," Hermione called and there was a clatter as Poppy knocked over a bottle in shock, "Can you help me?"

Severus closed his eyes. How this must look to Poppy, he could well imagine.

"I think I had better leave," he said tersely.

Hermione let out an irritated sound, "Severus I have a shirt on underneath this, just come help me." After slight hesitation he did as she asked, and helped to lift the shirt up her torso, over her head, and around her injured shoulder. She did indeed have a shirt on under her top, but it was hardly a slip of a thing. It had tiny little straps and clung tightly to her frame. He realized he was staring when he saw her chest flower with red blush spots. Uncomfortable, he looked anywhere but at her. Madame Pomfrey began applying a salve on Hermione's shoulder and she kept sneaking glances at him, so he studiously ignored her as well. This night was not going well. Their next class was going to be boring. With lots and lots of bookwork. No wands necessary, no prying healer's eyes needed.

When Poppy was done, Hermione hopped off the chair she had been in. "Thank you!" she said going straight for the door. Severus and Poppy both stared at her in amazement as she disillusioned herself. When Severus didn't immediately follow her, she grabbed the front of his frock coat and dragged him out of Poppy's office. She waited until they were back in his classroom to cast off the charm.

"You positively ran out of there," he commented, curious why she had done so.

She snorted indelicately, "She would have made me stay otherwise."

He raised an eyebrow, "Most certainly. Look at your arm!"

She shrugged, "I'm fine now. It will heal soon enough. But she would have wanted me to say all night, and probably would have questioned me about what happened. And about us…"

He froze. He would have to clear that up before Poppy got anything into her head. There was a headache waiting to happen that he did not need.

"And what would you have told her?" he asked carefully.

She smiled mischievously, "That it isn't any of her business." Then she picked up her bag and walked toward the door. "Good night Severus." He nodded, still too shocked to speak. What did her reply actually mean? He hadn't the slightest.

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_Hmmm...What DID she mean? ;) Hopefully we shall find out next chapter!_


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione kept a watchful eye on the boys as they practiced in the Room of Requirement. There had been a good turnout. Most of Dumbledore's Army had returned and they had even brought in a few new faces. They were all paired off in teams, practicing their dueling. Harry and Ron were dueling each other and Hermione was watching them for weaknesses while she nursed her stinging shoulder. Ginny had caught it with a stinging jinx while they were dueling, and it had irritated her healing shoulder.

She narrowed her eyes at Harry as she watched them. "Stop!" she called and everyone stopped practicing. She waved her hand at them, telling them to return to practicing and she walked over to Ron and Harry. "Harry, you use _expelliarmus_ too much. I know it's a good spell, and you use it well, but it makes you predictable."

He nodded, "I know."

"You've been studying the list of spells I've left for you each night?" Another nod. "Try throwing one of those in every so often." He nodded and she could see him riffling through his brain to decide which spells he wanted to try first. She stepped back and Ron and Harry returned to dueling each other. She smiled as Harry let off only a few _expelliarmus_ spells and a slew of others. And they did throw Ron off balance, so much so that she called for them to stop again. "Ron, you are too hesitant. You wait to see which spell he will cast, and then block it. You go on the offensive only rarely. You have to attack more. If there is more than one opponent you cannot block all of their spells. You have to be able to incapacitate someone easily. With no thought."

Ron shook his head, "I'd rather just deflect their spells." Hermione whipped out her want and let a curse fly at Ginny. Ginny crumpled to the ground and Harry and Ron looked from her to Hermione.

"Oy! Why did you do that?" Ron asked, his face stormy. The spell was relatively harmless, it was just a sleeping spell, but it would prove her point. Everyone had stopped dueling and was looking from Ginny to Hermione.

"You won't just be facing one person Ronald. You will be facing a battlefield of death eaters and Voldemort supporters. Every one of those death eaters will harm you if they have the chance. And they will like it. You have to be ready for a spell from anyone of them at any time. Sometimes more than one spell will be coming at you," she slipped easily into lecture mode. She knew how crucial it was that he understand this, that he train for this. His refusal to focus on more than one opponent at a time was what had killed him. "So you have to be cold, and calculating, and you cannot hesitate. You have to be able to cast at anyone, without warning. We are training to hurt. To kill. So if we want to survive, we had all better toughen up. You need to be able to do what I just did. Even if it is just a sleeping spell. A strong one will send your opponent to sleep for several hours. We all have to learn how to sense spells coming at us. Know how to identify them so we can repell them. Memorize the counter curses to every dark spell so we can help each other when we are hit with dark spells. We have to be _ready_. Not just children armed with a few spells. We have to become an actual army." There was a deep silence and Hermione removed her spell from Ginny who sat up, confused.

Harry cleared his throat and said, "Thank you everyone. That'll be all for today, see you in a week." They muttered to each other as they left the room, and then it was just Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Ron wouldn't look at her, but finally he said, "I'm not like that Hermione. I don't know how I'll act once the war starts, once the killing starts, but I cannot think like that now. I need to hold onto what little light inside me I have left. That no one can touch. Not even Voldemort." She nodded, she had been the same way before the war. She had never thought that she could kill anyone. But she had. And now she was tainted, corrupted.

"Come on you two, there is plenty of day left. Let's go get a butterbeer," Harry suggested, his smile too big.

Hermione shook her head, "I need to go see Professor Snape." She pocketed her wand and left without looking back.

She made it down to the dungeons, but the door to the classroom was closed. She pulled on it and found it locked. She was just about to leave when the door banged open and Malfoy strode through the barrier. He gave her a glare before moving past, but kept going for which she was grateful. She entered the classroom and shut the door behind her.

"Hermione?" Severus asked coming toward her, "What is wrong?

"I'm ready to talk about it now," she said, "If you have time." He nodded and picked up his wand, slashing it through the air. A door appeared and she followed him into his private quarters. He pulled out a chair for her and cleaned it of a stack of books. Then he sat across from her, waiting. "It first happened during the battle. I was fighting and losing to my…opponent. I was hit by a dark spell. I couldn't move, couldn't speak as he advance on me. And when he cast _crucio_ on me something snapped inside me. And I broke free."

"Would you permit me to see what happened?"

She frowned, "I can't. It could change things if you knew the details about the battle."

He nodded, "It could change them for the better though. Just that scene though, to be safe. It would help me determine the spell he used on you."

Finally she nodded, "Do you have a pensive?" He flicked his wand at a bookcase and it drew aside to reveal an alcove with a pensive. Hermione targeted her memory and pulled it out, casting it into the pensive. Then Severus took her hand and they both leaned in.

_They both were standing on the field where the final battle had taken place. Hermione had blurred the scenery around her so he couldn't learn anything about the battle. Hermione alone was visible, her hair windswept, tendrils coming out of her ponytail to ship annoyingly around her face. She had a gash beneath her collar bone that was bleeding freely, and the side of one of her arms looked badly singed, but otherwise she was unharmed. Then a death eater materialized next to her, his long blonde hair givint away who he was._

_"Malfoy," Hermione said, her voice quiet, but strong._

_"Miss Granger," he offered back with a mocking smile. Hermione wasted no time with sending a spell at him, but he deflected it easily. Then he started firing off spells, and Hermione protected herself the best she could. She couldn't send back any spells of her own, Malfoy moved too fast. They fought for several minutes, and then it happened. A spiral of purple-black came spinning at her and though she tried to deflect it, it didn't work. The spiral hit her full in the chest and she froze, the spell lifting her as Malfoy came closer so that she was eye to eye with him. "You've been an annoying little bitch," he said caressing her cheek. "I don't know how you did it, but you are mine now. And you can't move, so I'll have all the time in the world to exact my revenge for what you took from me. Crucio!"_ _She stayed still, unable to move or even scream, but her eyes were wild with the pain. Then he cut off the crucio and came to look at her. "It's not as much fun when you can't scream for me." _

_Then he shrugged and cast crucio again. It went on for several minutes, but Hermione remembered it lasting much longer. Then her eyes widened marginally and Severus and Hermione could feel the magic gathering around her, wild and untamed. "What is this?" Malfoy asked, a scowl transforming his white-blonde brows, he obviously felt it too. Then Hermione's arms were thrown back as she exploded with light and Malfoy shielded his eyes. The two spells on her were broken and she drifted down so her feet were once again on the ground. The air was positively thrumming with whatever she had just released. Hermione turned to Malfoy who croaked, "How?" A shaft of green light arced into view, heading for Hermione, but she blocked it with a wave of her hand, her gaze still locked firmly on Malfoy. _

_Then she spoke with a voice not totally her own, "Omnia Mortifera." Malfoy froze, his mouth open slightly, the vein in his forehead bulging. Then the vein flashed black and he topped over on his side, dead. The fire faded form Hermione, and visibly shaken she took out her want to rejoin the fight._

Severus and Hermione were pushed out of the pensive, the memory now finished. Severus sat down, his forehead creased in thought. "I don't remember saying those words," Hermione said, sitting down as well.

"They were Latin. Roughly translated: All deadly. But if they are part of a spell, I have never encountered it." He tapped the table with his long fingers. "What did you do to annoy Malfoy? He planned that attack. He must have found that spell specifically for you, and had other death eaters protecting him while he was with you."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "How did you know that?"

"It was rather obvious. Otherwise someone would have saved you, or at least attacked Malfoy."

She nodded, "It actually was you. You, Draco, and Narcissa."

He raised an eyebrow, "I remain a death eater during the battle?"

She bit her lip. She had already said more than she had meant to. Then she finally allowed, "For most of the battle. Then something happens and you visibly switch sides."

"You are not going to tell me what that something is?"

She shook her head, "You already know too much. But you'll know when it happens." He nodded, accepting her reply. "As for why Malfoy sought me out, I am not sure. We, Harry, Ron and I, do encounter the Malfoys next year, but I didn't really deal with Mr. Malfoy much. Mostly it was Bellatrix."

"Ah, Bellatrix," Severus said scowling, "Please tell me someone kills her."

Hermione nodded, "Yes. Someone kills her."

He nodded, "Good." Severus then stood up, his hands clasped behind his back as he paced.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The spell he used on you. The one that made you immobile?" She nodded, remembering vividly. "It's my spell. I don't understand how Malfoy got ahold of it."

Hermione shrugged, "It is still a long way away. Perhaps he reads it in a book of yours. That's the way Harry found your spells."

"What?" he asked startled.

"Has Harry not used Sectumsepra?" she asked uncertainly. A few small things had changed already because of her meddling with time. She never would have been friends with him otherwise. But this was a huge change if Harry had never used the dark spell on Malfoy.

"How do you know that spell?" he asked, his face thunderous.

"Your Potions book, Harry found it," she explained.

He shook his head, "I always wondered how he knew that spell. I didn't think you knew it too."

She let out her breath, relieved. She hadn't changed the timeline too much.

He cursed. "Now I know why you never wanted to see my spells. You had already seen them used by Harry."

She nodded, "I'm concerned that I am damaging the timeline too much Severus."

Severus shook his head, "Obviously you have changed a few things. But Dumbledore knew what he was doing when he sent you back. Trust that it was for some purpose." She nodded, though she was still unsure. "Now, he said, "Are you training the rest of the day or are you done?"

"Done," she said, "I lost my temper…that part of me took over."

"What happened?"

She blushed, "I hit Ginny with a sleeping spell to prove a point."

He frowned, "That's not bad. You must have controlled your temper well."

"I wasn't dueling her," she corrected, "I threw it at her while she was dueling someone else."

He smirked, "Trying to show them that attacks will come from all sides when fighting the big battle?" She nodded. "Well, you are right. They will figure that out. But since you are here shall we work a bit?" She nodded and followed him out the door that led to the castle grounds. Then they apparated to the spot Severus had brought her before. Hermione immediately crouched down. There was a muggle farmer and his dog crossing the fields.

"He can't see us," Severus said calmly. He smirked as he looked down at her crouching in the grass.

"Oh," she said blushing as she stood up.

"You seem to use your magic when you are angry. And you taught yourself to contain it, but the next step is to learn to use it."

She frowned, "Is it safe to be experimenting with this? We don't know what _this_ is, or what I can do. It's unpredictable."

He grimaced, "I have an idea of what it is you can do." She sat in the dirt, waiting for him to continue. He sighed and sat next to her. "The spell I created is rather like the Draught of Living Death." She raised her eyebrows, that certainly didn't sound good. "It permanently places the person in such a state, but instead of sleeping, they are awake, unable to move or speak.

"But how did I break free then?"

"The spell along with crucio and your own powers let loose something inside of you. Your base nature, one that doesn't deal with morality or confines."

"Is that why I'm able to do wandless magic and magic not related to any spells?"

He nodded, "It is my best guess. But nothing like this has ever happened before, so I cannot be sure. That part of us usually stays locked down, but something about the combination of magic on you set it free. You have to learn how to wield it, not just suppress it. Because if it is too strong, it could make you hurt someone who you didn't want to hurt." He stood up, "So get angry, because your training starts now."

Severus walked Hermione through what she needed to do, throwing out a few barbs to get her angry. Then he levitated rocks and threw them at her. He watched as she siphoned her magic and used it to stop rocks he sent hurdling at her, her face pulled with concentration. Every so often though she would get excited about her accomplishment and lose control of her power. She was amazing. So passionate. So powerful. He cursed their age difference, for if she was his age again he would have a chance. A slight chance, but it was more than he had now. Now she knew all he had done as a death eater, she could see how the years had aged him, and it wasn't as though his personality would win her. He had always been prickly, and so he would remain. There was no way she would ever want anything from him other than this. So he pushed away his attraction to her, though it was hard especially while she was using magic. She positively glowed when she did. He locked away his emotions and concentrated on the task at hand.

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_A/N: I know it is slow going, but I promise some mushy will be in the next chapter. But no lemons yet. YET :) I hope you all enjoyed, I'll have another update by Friday. Thanks for reading! *muah*_


	11. Chapter 11

Hermione grabbed an apple and munched on it as she started scribbling some notes on a bit of parchment. Ron groaned, but she did not look up to see what was the matter. "'Mione," he said pouting, "Can't you stop working even during dinner?"

She glanced up at him, "Ton, I am taking a full schedule, doing extra work with Professor Snape, finding materials for you two to study, and doing some extra work for myself. When do you suppose I even sleep?"

His eyes went wide, "You aren't sleeping?"

She rolled her eyes, "Of course I am. I just mean I have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. I have to use every moment I can."

Harry nodded, "We understand Hermione. What Ron is trying to say, rather badly, is that we miss you."

She smiled, his words making her chest tighten. "I miss you guys too, but we will have time enough to visit after we defeat Voldemort."

"If we all live," Harry said quietly. She glanced at him sharply and he shrugged. "You have made it abundantly clear that you don't expect all of us to live through the battle." Her excuses froze in her throat. How was she to explain that? "And I think you are right. Voldemort will target us, he wants to kill me, and he knows you are important to me. So to expect that all of us will live? It is impractical. But think about it Hermione, if one of us does die it would be better that we spent one less hour studying and more time together, sharing what matters. What we are fighting to keep." Hermione could only stare at him in amazement.

"Harry Potter, I do believe that is the most beautiful, wise thing you have ever said." She closed her book with a loud thump and eased it into her bag. "You are right. I won't even discuss homework or classes tonight."

Ron clapped Harry on the back, "Well done mate."

Harry grinned at Ron, but then looked at Hermione, his smile softening and she knew he knew how hard it was for her to stop.

Severus watched Hermione laughing with Potter and Weasley. Although he felt a pang of jealousy he was glad she was taking some time to enjoy herself. She was almost obsessive in her determination to make the future better, it wasn't healthy. Then she looked at him, her face aglow, her bushy hair frizzing away from her face and he caught his breath. She couldn't look at him like that. It made him remember too much. It made him remember a time when she would laugh with him, throw her arms around him with abandon. There was a gap between them now, the kind of gap that only came with age and growing apart. And he couldn't bare it. He pushed back his chair and strode from the hall, suddenly unable to watch.

Hermione watched Severus leave, confused. Had she done something to upset him? She wasn't studying hard like usual, but that couldn't possibly be it. He knew how hard she studied. Feeling uneasy she finished her meal and said goodbye to Ron and Harry. Then she made her way down to the dungeons for her lesson with Severus. She found him at his desk, scribbling furiously at some poor student's exam. She came in and shut the door, but he ignored her. "Severus, is everything alright?" she asked tentatively.

He didn't glance up. "Fine," he said with a venom that said all was not fine.

She wrung her hands, "Severus, I'm sorry I upset you, I didn't mean to." She came closer, "Can I do anything to fix it?" She reached out and touched his shoulder and he jerked away like her touch pained him.

"There's nothing you can do, just get out," he hissed.

"Severus," she implored, tears filling her eyes.

He turned on her, the anger in his eyes blazing as though someone had stoked a fire deep within him. "Get. Out," he spat and she obeyed, tears falling down her cheeks as she escaped the dungeons. She made her way through the castle until she finally found herself at the Room of Requirement. Not wanting to return to her room in tears, she decided to go into the room to stop crying. Inside it was stocked with all she might need: tissues, a lovely bed, a tin full of chocolates, a mug of hot chocolate, parchment and a quill. She crawled onto the bed and blew her nose. Then she took a sip of the hot chocolate and started her work on denting the box full of chocolates. This was easier said than done. It was charmed to replenish itself. After a few chocolates she blew her nose, wiped her face, and got to work. She didn't know why he was angry at her or why it upset her so much, but she would figure it out. She wrote Severus' name on the parchment and then her own, drawing a line to link them. _Friends, coworkers, teacher/student_ she wrote atop the line. She had been laughing with Ron and Harry, so she added them to the list, drawing lines and labeling the lines to her _friend_ and the lines from Severus to them _teacher_/_student. _She stared hard at the diagram. Her relationship with Severus was making things complicated, that much she could see. Was he upset by that? Her throat squeezed, did he miss sitting at the student tables with her? Suddenly it all made sense. Of course. They didn't quite have the same relationship as they had had. She was more guarded with this Severus, afraid that touching him the way she did with younger Severus would be crossing a line. She nodded to herself and ate another chocolate. When she saw him tomorrow she would assure him she still was his friend, and she would hug him. Perhaps they could even go off like they once had and have an adventure on the grounds. Maybe that would fix things.

Someone came into the room, though she could not see them. Then she sighed in relief as Harry shrugged off his cloak. He took in Hermione's puffy eyes and the collection of candy wrappers and tissues and climbed onto the bed with her. "What is the matter?" he asked, declining a candy with a hand. But his question only made her tear up again and he pulled her into a hug. She closed her eyes, thankful that this time the tears did not leave her eyes. "It was Snape, wasn't it?" he asked looking down at her parchment after they pulled away. She nodded and he eyed her mess, "He must have said something really mean for this. You don't usually let what he says bother you this much." She nodded, knowing he was right, but now it was different. Now he was a friend, and she cared about him. Cared what he thought of her. Harry narrowed his eyes at her, "He didn't try anything with you, did he?"

She stared at him shocked, "No! Why would you even say that? He would never make me do anything I didn't want to do."

He blushed, embarrassed, and shrugged, "I've just noticed the way he watches you when he thinks no one is watching. And when you do something right in class now his face seems to soften. Sometimes I think he might even smile. It's just, strange. And I thought maybe…" he trailed off.

"Maybe what Harry?" she asked.

He looked away, "Maybe you felt the same way about him."

She frowned at him, "And what have I done to make you think that?"

He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with the thought of her liking Snape, "You watch him too. And you look happy when you come back from lessons. And not the 'I just learned something awesome' happy, but the kind of happy I get from being with Ginny. And sometimes you almost call him Severus." Hermione blushed. He was right, she was often happy when she was with Severus. Obviously she and Severus had not been very good at hiding their friendship.

"He and I have just become friends," she explained.

Harry shook his head, "I cannot imagine wanting to be friends with him, but I can see that he could give you what Ron and I could not. Highly intellectual conversation."

She smiled, "You could if you just put your mind to it. You are really smart Harry." He grinned wickedly, "Yeah, I could, but I don't want to, that's the difference." Hermione smiled at his teasing.

"How did you know I was here?" He pulled the Maurader's Map from his pocket.

"I was looking over the map before bed. I saw you leave the dungeons and disappear into the Room of Requirements. But when I woke later you still were not in your dormitory, so I came to find you."

She smiled, "I'm glad you did. But I think I need to be alone again. Would you mind?"

Harry cocked his head, "No more crying?"

She nodded, "No more crying. I've just got to figure out a few things."

He nodded and went to pick up his cloak. "Goodnight Hermione."

"Goodnight," she said and picked up her parchment. What Harry had said might have a spark of truth, she realized. Harry said Severus watched her, and she watched him. Until he had said it, she had not realized she did it. But now she realized she often found herself admiring him. His tall, imposing form. His black, frock coat with too many buttons. His black curtain of hair. His dark eyes. His shoulders. And it was hard to look away when he was talking, his voice was hypnotic. But the question was, did she watch Harry and Ron? She couldn't remember ever watching them the same way. She had looked at Ron before to be sure. Before the battle, when she had fancied herself in love with him. But she had mourned him, and somehow those feelings had dissipated.

But it was more than just being enchanted by his appearance, obviously, or she wouldn't be friends with him. She admired his intellect, and he was a powerful wizard. She was dazzled by the way he risked his life to bring the order information, and he had saved her life during the battle. And there was that matter in the Hospital Wing. She most definitely had been flirting with him. But she shook her head. She might be attracted to him, and respect him, but that didn't necessarily mean she had feelings for him. Would she enjoy kissing him? Did she want him to return such feelings? That she didn't know. But she certainly wasn't going to ask Severus if she could sample a kiss so she could find out.

The next evening Severus did not look at her during dinner. She dreaded going down to the dungeons, but did so anyway, readying for anything he might say to her. No matter what she was staying tonight until they patched whatever hole had been torn in their friendship. But he wasn't there. Nor was he there the next night, or the next. When he missed their meeting to discuss her equation she was irritated and decided something had to be done.

That night after curfew she snuck out of the common room and went in search of Severus. True to his schedule, he would be pacing the castle, looking for students who were out of bed. And he would find her. Or rather, she hoped to catch him. Somewhere on the second floor she heard approaching footsteps and she hid behind a pillar. There was no sense in getting caught if it wasn't him. But then he stalked past her and she smiled triumphantly. Silently she cast _expelliarmus_ and his wand flew from his hand, the _nox_ extinguishing. She tucked it into her sleeve as he advanced.

"Who is there?" he snarled and she cast _nox_ on her own wand.

"Good evening Severus," she said her insides quivering at the look he was giving her.

"Give me back my wand," he snarled, coming closer.

"What are you going to do?" she asked stepping back, "Go through my clothes until you find it?" She blushed as she realized what she had said. But it did make him pause. "You can have it back after we have talked," she said calmly.

"About what?" he spat.

"About why you have been avoiding me." He snarled and half turned away from her.

"I am not avoiding you," he said quietly and moved so she could search his face in the near dark.

"Then what are you doing?" she whispered, her stomach fluttering unpleasantly as she stared up at him.

Severus stared down at her. Her face upturned and innocent, her eyes imploring him, willing him to see reason, and her lips, red and waiting.

And then his lips were hard against hers, as if he had been pushing himself away so long it caused him to pull her that much closer. His touch was fire and it consumed her every thought. She sagged against him, her knees weak with the pleasure as his tongue slipped in to dance with hers. He trapped her between the wall and his body, pressing it tightly against hers, his hands in her hair. She moaned into his mouth and ran her hands up his broad chest to his neck where she curved her and behind his neck. Then he broke away with a muffled curse, walking quickly away from her. She ran after him and grabbed his arm. "Severus," she said and he stopped, not looking at her. She moved so that she could see his face, then tentatively she kissed him. This time it was a gentle kiss, and it spoke of surrender. Hermione felt the space just beneath her breasts flower, suddenly filling the emptiness with a too-full feeling.

When they broke away he cupped a palm around her cheek. "I shouldn't have done that," he whispered, but she smiled up at him.

"I'm glad you did."

He closed his eyes, all the strength from his anger gone. "You're glad, why?" he asked, his voice pained.

"I didn't know how much I cared until you did."

His eyes widened marginally, but then he groaned and let his head fall upon her shoulder. She brought her arms around his body and gave him a slight hug. Then he pulled back. "What'll we do now?" he asked. "I can't date a student. I probably should be fired for even snogging you."

She smiled, "We'll go on as we have. Learning together, fighting Voldemort. Only sometimes I may want to snog you now, and you may want to do the same." She smiled boldly at him, "And besides, I'm not really a student, am I?"

He rubbed his temples, "Minerva is going to slaughter me."

Hermione smiled, "She may try to castrate you, yes, but I don't think she'd go as far as murder." He stared at her wide-eyed for a beat, then realized she was teasing him and he laughed softly.

He gathered her up for a quick kiss and then said, "Alright then, you win. But no one can know, understood? Not Dumbledore, not Minerva, not Potter or Weasley. It would endanger the both of us."

She nodded, "Harry has already guessed though."

He raised an eyebrow and she explained, "He said he noticed the way we looked at each other."

He quirked an eyebrow, "Perhaps we will have to work on being more subtle."

She nodded, "And we'll have to discuss what to do when I leave. The Hermione in this time won't understand why you are smiling at her, and she might scream and faint if you start snogging her."

He nodded, "Shall we get you back to your dorm? I think we have lingered in the open long enough." She nodded and handed him back his wand. "I'm warning you though…if you steal my wand again, I just may have to do as you suggested…and tear off all your clothes," he teased and she flushed. She certainly was in trouble she decided as they made their way toward the Gryffindor Common Room, because she had defiantly liked snogging Snape.

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_**A/N:**__ Ahhhhhh! Their first...three kisses! :) As promised. I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading and for all of your comments, they inspire me :D_


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N:**__ Just an FYI, I am going to be rapidly finishing this story. Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) is coming up soon, November. So I want to be finished writing this by at LEAST Novemember. Hopefully it will be finished by end of September. So that means rapid fire uploads! It also means I'm likely going to spend less time editing :/ So I apologize in advance if I miss something blatant. Enjoy chapter 12! :) Again, just because it is worth repeating just so I don't get my bum handed to me...this is not my world and not my characters, all belong to J.K. Rowling. I just love to borrow them :)_

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Hermione drifted through the day, only half aware of the world around her. Several times Harry and Ron talked to her and she didn't hear anything they were saying. Which wasn't anything new, but it usually happened while she was reading, not staring into space. She just had too much on her mind. And at the forefront was Severus. _What would tonight be like?_ she wondered. Would he maintain the dynamic they had gotten used to during their nightly lessons? Or would it change now that she had…that they had…Hermione blushed. This was certainly going to take some getting used to.

But soon the day had ended and she arrived at Severus' classroom on time as usual. She hung in the doorway, uncertain what to say. He looked up from his desk, his eyes softening when he saw her. She closed the door and he rose from his desk to place a stack of papers on a table for her to get started on.

Hermione groaned in dismay. Ever since he had taught her how to start controlling her magic they had been doing book work. Nothing with wands, nothing with potions. Nothing except book work. She leveled a scowl at him, but it did not have much effect. "When are we going to do something else besides look at words?" she complained.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "The bookworm is complaining about having more to read?"

She crossed her arms, "I have no problem with the reading, Severus, just the work attached. Should we not be _implementing_ what I am learning? I am only spitting the information back out for you, not showing you that I have mastered it physically."

He nodded, "We won't be fighting until you master yourself, Hermione. If you can show me you have mastered that, then we can duel again." She frowned. She _had_ been practicing. More than he knew. She concentrated, which was easy because he was irritating her. She saw his eyes widen as he felt her begin to draw on the magic. "Hermione, do _not_ destroy my lab," he growled. She did not reply, but closed her eyes, and focused on directing her magic. Then she raised her arms and the cauldrons at every single table in the room levitated. Then she lowered her arms and the cauldrons clattered back onto the table. Then she opened her eyes and smirked at Severus. _How is that for mastery?_ she wanted to retort, but held her tongue.

Finally he nodded and sat down, staring at her intently. "I can see you've been practicing," he commented, and she nodded. He sighed. "Alright. We'll duel then. But after you finish that work." She raised an eyebrow, and all synapses firing she sat down to complete the work in record time. Severus shook his head as she went to work, her quill scratching quick answers, her eyes flying over the words. In ten minutes she completed six pages of questions. She rose from the desk, handed him her answers, and then waited to see what he would say. Severus looked over her answers, and found most of them to his liking. Except for her analysis of the Avada Kedavra curse. "Your plan is to _jump out of the way_ of Avada Kedavra_?_" he asked. He shook his head, "It can be done, but there are better, more sure ways of avoiding it."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "I only wrote it because I already _did _it."

He tipped his head to the side, "You dodged Avada Kedavra?"

She nodded reluctantly, "I did, though it necessarily wasn't my idea. Someone knocked me out of the way."

He nodded, "It must have been a particularly weak caster for there to be enough time for you to be knocked out of the way." He examined her closely. She was acting strangely, as if she didn't want to discuss it. "It was Weasley, wasn't it? That's how he died. Saving you?" She shook her head, but did not offer the name of the person who had saved her. Severus narrowed his eyes at her, but then let the matter drop when she said no more. "What else could you have done to prevent being hit?" he asked.

She pursed her lips in thought. Several minutes passed as she puzzled with it, "I don't know Severus. I honestly didn't know it could be avoided at all. Not until…someone saved me."

He nodded, "It can be avoided. But the odds are not very good. You can try to dodge it. And you can attempt to magically create something physical in front of you to block its path. But you have to be fast, faster than the caster. Most are not fast enough. Though half the death eaters are either half mad or half dolts, their dark spells are well practiced." He finally set her papers down and nodded. "All right, we can duel," he said.

They went to Severus' spot and faced each other over the expanse of the fields. For a few minutes they dueled, fast and furious, both breathing hard in the darkness, flashes of their spells momentarily lighting up the scenery. It ended rather abruptly when she didn't hear him apparate right behind her. He grabbed her from behind, his wand at her throat. She struggled in his one arm hold, but could not get free. "Solutions?" he asked patiently.

She laughed, "I have one, but you aren't going to like it." Then she threw herself backwards, and startled he went down. She landed on top of him with a soft 'oof'. The move was effective, but had he wanted to harm her, the harm would have already been done the moment he had his wand at her neck. He groaned and she rolled over so she was facing him. She grinned at him in the darkness, "I told you you wouldn't like it." His only answer was his soft wheeze as his lungs filled again with air. Her soft fingers sought his face in the dark, "Are you alright?"

He scowled at her playfully before realizing that she couldn't see it, "I'm fine, no thanks to gravity." She laughed softly, and her lips found his in the dark. He wrapped his arms around her body, making sure to be careful where he touched. He was not going to mess this up by making her move faster than she wanted to. Just as his body was beginning to heat up despite the cool night, his arm twinged. He pulled away from Hermione quickly, and she drew back in alarm. Another icy twinge forced Severus to his feet. "Quickly Hermione, we have to go," he said breathlessly. He pulled her to him and apparated back to Hogwarts. He set off for his classroom at a run, pulling open the special door, Hermione not far behind. She stood in his classroom, waiting for him as he rummaged around in his private quarters for something. When he came out she saw that he was holding his death eater mask, and her stomach lurched unpleasantly. He had been summoned.

He looked down at her, regret in his eyes, but then went back toward the tunnel that led to the outside. "Wait, Severus!" she called running to him. He stopped, though she could see he was already anxious about being late. She threw her arms around him, her face buried in his chest. "Be safe," she whispered, then stepped back. He nodded once, then turned and strode out through the passageway.


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione waited until well after midnight for him to return, but he did not come. Still she could not leave, the worry boiling in her stomach too much to bear. She transfigured a chair into a couch and laid down to wait. This was the most afraid she had ever, she decided. Being threatened by death eaters, facing that green light, being attacked by Malfoy? All paled in comparison to sitting here waiting, expecting the worse, and not being able to do _anything_ about it.

It was dark when she finally opened her eyes, and she blearily tried to figure out what had woke her. A sharp clatter came to her right as someone knocked over some of the vials on a table. Shaking, she pulled out her wand and whispered, "_Lumos._" Her stomach lurched at what was before her. Severus was on the ground, his eyes closed, his face pinched in concentration. She flicked her wand back and forth, casting _Lumos Maxima._ Then she dropped to the ground, searching for the cause of his pain. "Severus," she said touching him hesitantly. He opened his eyes, and stared at her as if he were confused that she was there. "Severus, what is wrong? Should I go get Madame Pomfrey?" He shook his head so slightly that she almost did not see it. She frowned at him, "Professor Dumbledore?" Again he shook his head. "Who should I get?"

With effort he shook his head once more before his eyes rolled back in his head. Hermione stared at him for a brief moment, unsure what to do. Then she rolled up her robes and set about unbuttoning his frock coat. She slid his arms through the holes and froze when she saw the blood stained, white shirt he had on underneath. With trembling fingers she undid the buttons of his shirt and peeled it back. His chest was littered with cuts, though not deep they were bleeding freely. She pulled herself up and went to his store of potions, looking for something that would help. She grabbed a few things and rushed back to him. She stared uncertainly at his injuries. Although they were numerous, they should not have been enough to cause him to lose consciousness. So what had been done that had caused this? Then she saw the slight tremor in his fingers, and the occasional twitch of his leg. Someone had cast _crucio_ on him. Hermione knew nothing about the treatment of _crucio_, but she did know that if she didn't clean and treat the wounds on his chest they would fester and become infected.

She did what she could to topically clean and tend to his wounds, but she did not dare give him anything orally. She didn't know what would help or what would make the effects of _crucio_ worse. When he was clean and his torso swaddled in bandages, she levitated him onto the couch she had transfigured. Then she left the classroom, locking and warding the door after her.

She traveled up the stairs to Professor McGonagall's quarters. After knocking a few times, McGonagall pulled the door open, her sleepy eyes questioning Hermione. "May I come in, Professor?" she asked quietly. After a moment Professor McGonagall nodded and opened the door so Hermione could enter. Hermione sat down on the couch as she was used to. It was not the first time she had come to talk to Minerva at odd hours of the night. During her time she did it quite often especially after the battle when she was trying to deal with Ron's death. But as Minerva gazed at her concerned Hermione realized her mistake. She had come here because this is always where she went when she had something that she couldn't tell anyone else. But this wasn't her time, and Minerva was probably wondering why she was here.

Hermione sighed. It was time to tell Professor McGonagall exactly who she was. "Professor," she started, "You met a girl about twenty years ago who begged you to allow her to stay in your class, do you remember?"

Minerva smiled, "So you have returned to this time then?"

She shook her head, "Not returned, I did not come from this time. I came from a year in the future."

Minerva's smile died. "Oh," was all she said for a moment. "And why did you travel to these points in time?"

"Voldemort," Hermione said quietly and Minerva nodded wearily.

"So why have you come to me? Did you just get here?"

Hermione shook her head, "No, I have been here a few weeks, but something has happened. And I don't know who else to talk to. Severus just came back from a death eater meeting. And he didn't want me to get anyone for him. But he was injured and _crucioed_." She looked down at her hands as her eyes filled with tears. "I don't know what to do to help him. I bound his wounds, but he is twitching. I've never read anything about how to treat _cruicio.__**"**_

Professor McGonagall smiled sadly and snapped her fingers. A house elf popped into her office and she requested tea. The elf presently brought in a tray with tea, sugar, and cream. Professor McGonagall poured herself some tea when the house elf left and then she poured a cup for Hermione. Hermione mixed her tea, waiting to see if Minerva would tell her what to do.

"I wondered how knowing him when he was younger would change your relationship," Minerva said before taking another sip. Hermione could only stare at her. Was she really using this time to investigate Hermione's relationship with Severus, instead of telling her what she needed to know? When Hermione refused to say anything Minerva shook her head. "Nothing can be done, my dear. He just has to suffer through the effects." Hermione found that she had nothing to say to this. It was not the news she wanted to hear. So she took a few sips of tea. "You do care about him, I can see that," Minerva said, her eyes narrowed at Hermione. "Take care you do not hurt him."

Hermione shook her head, "I wouldn't Professor."

She raised an eyebrow. "Severus Snape is a hard man. He is a talented wizard, and he protects himself well. So if he has let you in, showed you his more…soft side. Make sure you do not betray his trust. He does not easily forgive."

Hermione sighed. "And you don't worry about _him _breaking _my _heart?"

McGonagall's mouth twitched, "Your heart? Oh dear…" She set down her cup. "I had assumed the two of you had grown as friends, not…"

Hermione glared at her. She knew very well McGonagall had said what she had said to get her to reveal the extent of her relationship with Severus. And she had fallen for it. "Stop that. It's irritating," was all she said.

"Stop what, dear?" Minerva asked, her eyes questioning, the perfect image of innocence.

"Pretending that you are innocent of being a meddling, nosy witch," Hermione said fondly.

Minerva smirked, "But I do it _so _well. And it is amusing." Hermione could not help but smile back at her Professor. She loved the woman too much to stay irritated at her, even if the amusement was at her own expense.

"Please don't tell Severus that I told you," she implored.

Minerva waved her hand, "Oh no, I wouldn't dream of it." But she took a sip of her tea with a smirk still lingering around her mouth. She was planning something, and Hermione groaned inwardly. Then Minerva began serious, "You tell him though, that if he so much as removes your _shirt_ I'll feed his family jewels to Fawks."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I am nineteen," she said with a huff, "Well above age."

Minerva sniffed, "Well above age you may be, but in this time he is your teacher, and you his student. We don't need any undue scandals."

Hermione controlled herself from rolling her eyes. She was an adult, and if she was so inclined to take of her shirt in front of Severus, she would. "Thank you for the tea, Professor," she said, setting her tea cup down. "Would you mind informing the Headmaster that Severus may not be able to teach classes tomorrow? He doesn't look well."

Minerva eyed her suspiciously, "You are going back down to him then?"

Now Hermione did roll her eyes, "He is _unconscious._ I hardly think he is in any position to impugn my honor at the moment."

Minerva laughed. Then she nodded, "Alright dear. I'll let Professor Dumbledore know." Hermione smiled and headed back down to the dungeons. As she unwarded and unlocked the door before stepping inside she did not notice the pale blonde haired boy who watched her from the shadows.

Hermione woke the next morning, a crick in her neck. She moaned and lifted her head from where it rested on the sofa. Sitting on the floor with her head on the couch was certainly not one of the most comfortable places she had slept, but she had not meant to sleep. She had meant to watch over Severus, who, when she raised her eyes to check on him, was watching over her. She blushed and lifted herself off the floor as he smiled at her. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Better," he said his voice gravelly. "Thank you for taking the time to take care of me. I didn't think it was really you…"

She smiled at him. "And who else would I be?" she teased, checking his bandages. The topical ointments had done their job, and his wounds were well on their way to healing. Whether he felt anything further from the _crucio_, she could not tell.

He waved his hand weakly, "That other young, attractive girl I sometimes snog."

She laughed and play smacked him, "Oy! No snogging other women, or I'll have to slip you a love potion."

He smiled and his chest rumbled with his laugher, "I don't think I'll be needing one of those."

"No?" she said softly, looking down on him. But he just smiled at her in return, and she did not press the matter, not willing to go down that slippery slope yet. Besides. They were joking.

She stood up and started cleaning up the mess he had made last night. "Your classes are cancelled," she said quickly, hoping he wouldn't be mad at her.

"What?" he said, unable to fully muster a snarl.

She raised an eyebrow at him pointedly, "You can't even find the energy to get mad at me Severus, how are you supposed to teach a class?"

He glared, and that did not fail him. "I have been teaching classes in this condition before you were _walking_," he said scathingly.

"Well…today you have a day off," she said, refusing to let him shake her. "But it is Tuesday, so I will see you later so we can go over the equation…if you are feeling so well." She came to sit down on the floor in front of him. "Is there anything I can get you though? Anything that would make it better?"

He shook his head, "I am fine now." He put his legs over the side of the couch and stood up. "See?" But he looked almost gray as he presented himself for examination.

She shook her head, "Go to bed Severus, please. It will help you heal faster."

He frowned, "Well since I already have the day off, I guess I should make the most of it." He considered the thought then said, "Unless you want to stick around and keep me company?"

She blushed, "Severus! I hardly think you have energy to spare at the moment!" He frowned confused, and she realized she had just made a very wrong assumption. "I…um…will see you later today," she said quickly as she saw the realization dawn on his face as he figured out what she had thought he had meant. She was just thankful his laughter didn't follow her out as she fled the classroom.

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_**A/N:**__ Hope you all enjoyed chapter 13. More to come soon! Thank you for all your wonderful reviews :D_


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N:**__ I know it has been a while since I uploaded, thank you for sticking with me! :) Hope you enjoy Chapter 14._

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Hermione was studying in a corner of the library, furiously taking notes about the dark arts. The more she knew, the better she could correct her equation. And then perhaps her spell would finally work. She heard someone coming towards her but didn't lift her head until she realized they had not passed her, but stopped. She looked up smiling, expecting to see Harry and Ron.

"What do you want Malfoy?" she asked, her smile disappearing as she saw Malfoy flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. They didn't scare her. It actually pleased her to see them here, knowing that they died during the battle. Well, Crabbe and Goyle had, Malfoy she was not sure what had happened to him. Malfoy nodded to his two goons and they stepped away, turning around like bouncers guarding the entry to a club. Malfoy pulled out a chair to join her and lowered himself gracefully into the seat.

"You intrigue me, Granger," he revealed, and Hermione did her best to contain a disbelieving laugh. It came out as a small cough.

"Why is that?"

He leaned in, "Because you visit Snape at night and he doesn't give you detention or take away house points." He paused, letting her horror sink in. "What _is _it you do in exchange for being able to wander the castle at any hours that you please? Do you work for him, making him any potion he wants, like his little slave?" Hermione could not breathe. How did he know? He couldn't have seen her, she was careful. "Or do you let him touch you, like a little Mudblood whore?" His arm snaked forward to caress her shoulder tenderly and she slapped it away.

"Don't touch me," she hissed. He smiled, but it had no warmth in it.

"So which is it Granger? Whore or slave?" She stared at him, not willing to grace him with an answer. His smile spread, "And which will you be for me to make sure I don't tell anyone about your secret?"

Hermione widened her eyes and leaned forward, "I am neither his whore nor his slave, nor will I be yours. I am working on an independent project."

"In the middle of the night?" he asked smirking.

"Of course," she said leaning back, "Some potions have to be stirred every few hours." She paused, "You may not be _good_ at potions, but even you should know that."

Anger flared in his eyes and he nodded tersely. "Crabbe, Goyle, let's go," he said as he stood up. Hermione concentrated on breathing so she wouldn't let her relief show. She refused to let herself be bullied. But Severus was not going to like this. Not at all.

Even though she was upset by the encounter with Malfoy, Hermione did not approach the Potions Classroom until she was supposed to that night. She refused to reveal any more about her relationship with Severus than she had to Draco. He was sitting at his desk as usual when she came striding in. When she quickly locked and warded the door he looked up at her through his hair, an eyebrow raised in question when he saw her face.

"Severus," she said and he stood up from the desk. "Malfoy saw me."

"Saw you…what?" he asked coming closer.

"He saw me with you."

His black eyes grew steely, "How much did he see?"

She shook her head, "Nothing I think. He just saw me come in here…or leave, late at night. But he could only come up with two reasons why I would be down here."

He raised an eyebrow, "And they are?"

"That I am your slave so I can walk around the castle at night," she said quietly.

"And the other?" he growled when she didn't provide it.

"That…" She didn't want to say it. It wasn't true. And it was going to make him angry, when all she wanted was for him to hold her until she forgot about Malfoy. "That I'm…your whore." She couldn't look at his face, but he lifted her chin to bring her eyes to his.

"Don't even think it," he said quietly. She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears.

"I don't. But that he would even think you would do that to someone…"

His face twisted, "You don't know what I've done Hermione."

She shook her head, "Stop that! I know you Severus. I knew you before you took the mark. I know you have done some bad things, and I know too that you regret them. Bbut you would never do that to me. And you would never do that now if you had any real choice in the matter."

He shook his head, "There is _always_ a choice Hermione. Even then, even now. And any refusal to take another choice but the one that is presented to you is cowardice."

She pulled him down to her, pressing her lips against his, "You are not a coward. What you do constantly, is put yourself in danger for all of us. And how are you rewarded for your sacrifice? No one thanks you. You are injured frequently because of it. And you can't openly be with the woman who loves you. Think of all you have sacrificed for the greater good. So we can win. That is true bravery."

"What did you say?" he whispered.

"That you have true bravery?"

He shook his head, "Before that."

Hermione smiled, "Oh. That." She put her hands on his cheeks, "I want to be with you Severus." He wrapped his arms around her and brought her close to him fiercely.

He buried his face in the hair at her shoulder. "I can't lose you," he whispered, half hesitant about revealing the depth that he felt. Then he raised his head, "You are too precious to me. And I can't think…if anything were to…"

She shook her head, "Severus, I live through the battle. As do you. You won't lose me." She kissed him, then whispered, "I promise." He nodded and she kissed him again, the chaste kisses becoming deeper as she slipped her tongue into his mouth. She stepped back from him, her face burning. "Do…do you…is there…I mean, would you…" She snuck a glance at his face, pulled with patience.

"Was I supposed to understand that?" he questioned with a soft laugh, "Because I assure you, I did not." Still she hesitated. "Hermione," he sighed, "Just ask."

"Is there a way I could come visit you without being seen? Because I'd like to visit you more, and maybe stay sometimes?"

"Stay?" he asked, an eyebrow raised in amusement. His hands drifted from her shoulders to her waist and she shivered at the warmth in his hands. Her bum was pressed against a table, and his torso pressed against hers, but still she wanted him closer. Wanted the burn of his skin on hers, wanted…She stopped, forcing her racing heart to slow so she could concentrate. "Stay here in the lab?" he asked, his molten chocolate voice making her belly twist. She shook her head, all words had left her. _Merlin_, she wanted him. The problem was, he knew it. He lowered his mouth to her ear, whispering, "Where did you plan on staying?" He nipped her earlobe.

"With you," she breathed, her voice coming out slightly strangled.

"With me where?" he asked, a slight chuckle gracing his soft voice as he slowly kissed down her throat. Unconsciously she wove her hands in his hair. "Where, Hermione?" he prompted. She narrowed her eyes. Uh uh. Two could play at this game. She was not about to let him take all control. She moved her hands down his front, playing with the many buttons that ran down the length of his torso. She raised her eyes to his, slowly peering up at him through her lashes.

"I think you know," she said quietly with a smirk. His control snapped. He devoured her mouth hungrily, crushing her body to his. She tore at his buttons until she got the first layer off. Then with a sigh she pulled his shirt free from his trousers and slipped her hands up the back of his shirt, kneading her fingers in his back. He moaned and picked her up, setting her on the table. She wrapped her legs around his hips, bringing him closer, and she could feel how much he wanted her. Her belly spiked with desire and she tangled her hands in his hair again. She started tugging his shirt up, but he twisted away from her. She hopped off the desk, "What is it?"

He nodded, staying a bit away from her, "We have to stop Hermione, I can't…"

She frowned confused, "Why?"

He smiled softly and cupped her cheek with his palm, "Because I want to tear off your clothes and ravish you right here. And that is not how I want this to progress."

"How do you want it to progress?" she asked softly.

He sighed, sitting down heavily, "I don't want you to regret this. I want you to be absolutely certain."

She crossed her arms and glared at him, "I am certainly able of making up my own mind."

He frowned, "Have you done this before?"

"Done _what _before?"

He raised an eyebrow, irritated she was going to make him spell it out for her. "Are you a virgin?"

"Oh!" she laughed and shook her head, "No. I'm not." He narrowed his eyes, clearly wanting to ask who, but held himself back. "It was Ron," she said gently. "A few times before the battle."

His face twisted and he held up a hand, "Please no more." She smiled at his jealousy and went over to him. She sat on his lap, looking deeply into his eyes, "Severus, I _do_ want this. But if you don't, then that is fine. I can wait until you are comfortable." He nodded, "I'd like to court you. Like I should have. I would ask your parent's permission, but that hardly seems appropriate as they think you are currently my student."

She grinned. "You are very old fashioned," she said fondly kissing him. "Besides," she said quietly, "They don't remember who I am in my time." At his look of confusion she explained that before she, Ron, and Harry went to look for the Horcruxes she had performed the memory charm on her parents, so they would be safe.

He nodded slowly, "It was the right thing to do. They will be safe." She smiled sadly and nodded. She hoped he was right. "May I have your approval, in place of your father's, for me to court you?" he asked, trying to distract her.

She laughed, "Of course." She paused. "What does courting entail exactly?"

He shrugged, "I would like to take you for a formal date.

She raised her eyebrows. What exactly would a date with Severus entail? Finally she nodded. She had never formally been on a date. So many questions were zipping through her mind. What was she supposed to wear? What were they going to do? Would he plan it, or would it all be up to her? She forced the questions down as he asked if the next night would be agreeable. She nodded, "I don't know when this Time Turner will take me back. Dumbledore estimated I would have roughly a year, but does that include the time I spent with you when you were a student? I don't know. But I'd rather do things that I want to do now so I am not surprised by the Time Turner like I was last time." But as she said it she realized she wasn't doing what she was supposed to be doing. Which was training the boys and fixing her equation. Instead she was being distracted by Severus' very fine lips far too often.

As if he could see where her mind was, he asked, "Have you made any progress with the equation?"

Hermione sighed and removed herself from his lap. "Bits, but it still isn't perfect. It needs a power equal to Voldemort's to even the equation. And Dumbledore has proved that his power is waning, he could not be Voldemort's antithesis. So until I figure out how to solve that problem, I don't know what else to do. The equation _should_ work once I add in that variable."

He nodded, "It is a difficult problem. Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard I know."

She nodded. She could think of no other with his great supply of power combined with years of practicing his craft and gathering knowledge.


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N:**__ Sorry this took me so long to write/post! I will try to get to the next chapter a bit sooner! Enjoy! Lemons...FINALLY ;)_

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Hermione sat staring at a wall, a tea cup clenched in her hands. It had long gone cold, but she couldn't find the energy to reheat the water. Her date with Severus had gone fine. Lovely actually. He had taken her to a museum, discussed brush strokes, how the paintings made them feel. She had laughed as he sneered at the modern art section and pulled her along to the collection of classical sculptures. She had even dared to slip her hand into his as they wandered from precious piece to piece. And her heart had surged with the simple happiness of it all. His warm hand in hers, and the expression on his face as he looked down at her.

That was until he had been called away. They had just been served, and as she rolled her fork in her pasta she saw him stiffen. He had slapped money on the table and left quickly. And though she had been starving seconds before, she no longer had an appetite. So here she was. Sitting in his classroom, numb. She supposed it was better this way. Better than being a crying wreck. She knew what was going to happen when he came back. If he came back. She had prepared a table of supplies she might need, everything organized from gauze to potions. Her stomach twisted as she thought of what he must be going through. All she wanted was for him to come home. To touch him and hold him until they forgot things like dark magic, Voldemort, and the war. She had been waiting for three hours, but she knew she likely would be waiting most of the night. Then the special door opened and Severus strode through, stopping in surprise when he saw her. Hermione stood up, setting the cup down as she gaped at him. He was fine, completely unharmed. Her mouth moved in a wordless whisper and then she ran to him, throwing her arms around him. She kissed him fiercely on the lips, her hands finding his face. Then she broke down, the tears finally coming, "You're safe!" she sobbed as he held her to his chest.

"I'm fine," he whispered, kissing her tenderly. Hermione wiped her eyes, relieved that this time he was unscathed. "The Dark Lord is readying his armies, and I gave him nothing to be displeased with," he continued.

Hermione's heart jumped uncomfortably. His armies were getting ready? That…but it wasn't time yet! She had at least two months before the battle. Then she stilled, a sudden thought raising goose bumps on her arms. What if she had changed more than just the date of the final battle by meddling with time? What if she didn't survive this time? What if Severus didn't? She stared up at him, falling into his black eyes as she decided. She wanted to be with him. So even if the Time Turner took her tomorrow, or she and Severus didn't survive the battle this time, she would have this night. She wove her fingers through his hair and pulled him down to her, their lips meeting. He brought his arms around her, but would not push the kiss any further. He knew his boundaries and meant to keep them, which meant, she supposed, she would have to initiate if she wanted anything further.

"Severus," she said between kisses, "Would you let me stay tonight?"

He pulled pack, his eyes searching her face. "Are you sure?"

She nodded and raised herself on her toes so she could reach his lips. His hands tentatively slipped underneath her shirt to caress the smooth span of her lower back. The lazy motion made Hermione's belly tighten with desire. He moved his lips to her neck, trailing hot kisses down the stretch of her creamy neck and onto her collar bone. She melted against him. She could feel his stiff arousal pressing against her and suddenly her core was on fire. Oh _Merlin…_it had been so long since she had been kissed like this. Only she never had been kissed quite like this… Her train of thought dissipated as he lifted her up. She laughed in surprise and wrapped her arms around his neck. He carried her to his door, fumbling with the handle to let them in. Then he lowered her onto the bed, shutting the door with a wave of his hand. She struggled with his many buttons, finally revealing the white shirt underneath. He shrugged off his frock coat and his shoes. Hermione concentrated on getting her own shoes off, and was unbuttoning her shirt when Severus pushed her hands away. Quickly his deft fingers undid her shirt.

She looked up at him, suddenly shy. What would he think of her? It had been such a long time since she had been with Ron. What if she messed things up? She gasped as Severus ripped off her bra and his mouth descended on a nipple, his tongue swirling around it. The feeling of his tongue was like the first bite of rich chocolate cake. It was the crisp, awake smell of crushed mint leaves. Then he bit down lightly, teasing her nipple into a hard peak, and she stopped trying to compare or categorize what she was feeling. Ron hadn't…oh Merlin… He switched to her other nipple. No. Being with Ron was nothing… She moaned as his fingers found her wet heat. He rubbed her clit lightly and she jerked in response as he slipped a finger inside her. She moved against him, wanting more. She moaned, and he added another finger. She closed her eyes, struggling to just breathe through the mingling of frustration and desire. His fingers were not what she wanted. She wanted him, inside her, devouring her, hard, hot, and fast. She moaned as a wave of heat sliced through her. He covered her lips with his and she tore at his shirt. The sooner he was undressed, the sooner he could be inside her. She lost herself in the smooth expanse of his chest, his white skin stretched over toned muscles. Then she pulled her thoughts together and undid his pants. She slipped a hand inside, finding his cock straining against the zipper.

She smiled when his hips involuntarily jerked as a reaction to her hand as she stroked him. "Severus," whispered, and he recognized the plea in her voice. He ripped off his pants and she slid her skirt and underwear off her hips, throwing them onto the floor. She only got a glimpse of his hard cock before it was poised against her entrance. But he stopped, the muscles in his arms standing out as he held himself above her. He looked down at her, worried.

"Are you sure?" he asked again. She nodded, wrapping her legs around his waist, an invitation for him to enter. She had never been so sure about anything else. He eased into her slowly, groaning with the delicious effort. "Oh god Hermione," he moaned, burying his face in her hair. How had this happened? She was so beautiful, so smart, and god…so tight around him. He didn't deserve her, but he wanted her anyway.

She kissed him, unsure why he had stopped, but then he moved inside her, and she couldn't think any more. She wrapped her legs tighter around him as the pressure began to build. She wanted more of him, and he answered, thrusting even deeper into her. The fire inside her both exploded and came to a crest, like a wave made of thousands of fireworks. She clung to him, sharp, breathy gasps accenting his thrusts as she came. Gradually the wave passed and she trembled with the aftershocks as he groaned and spent himself inside her. They lay there, entwined until their breath returned.

Then he kissed her lazily. "I am never letting you go," he half warned, half promised.

She smiled and rolled over so her chin was on his chest. "If you do, I'll unleash Professor McGonagall on you."

He laughed, the deep sound vibrating her chin. "You wouldn't dare. If she castrated me I wouldn't be _nearly_ as much fun."

Hermione shrugged, a smiled playing around her mouth. "I don't know. Your fingers were pretty fantastic. You may not require your manly parts anymore." He growled and captured her bottom lip between his teeth, pulling on it gently.

"Shall I prove to you just how wrong you are?" His hands gripped her bottom, pulling her on top of him and guiding her wet entrance to his member. Hermione bit her lip to hold in a delighted moan as he impaled her on his cock. Then he thrust into her, hard and fast, the sound of their skin slapping together fast enough for a brisk Irish jig. She leaned slightly back, and he pushed even further into her, completely filling her. Then all at once she tipped into orgasm, the world falling out from under her, every part of her body singing from the force of it, but he wasn't done. As he thrust into her his fingers found her swollen nub, rubbing it until she screamed his name amidst unintelligent babbles that consisted mostly of two words, 'yes' and 'fuck'. The she came again, fast and hard. She slumped against him, completely spent. "See?" he pointed out, his voice ragged from shouting his own release. She shook her head against his damp chest.

"No," she said with a slight smile. "Your fingers were pretty damn fantastic that time too."

He sighed, but she knew he was pleased. He wrapped his arms around her, his fingers dancing lightly across her back. She fell asleep in his arms, his deep, calm breaths lulling her into sleep.

Hermione woke up the next morning though Severus was not there. She smiled and stretched, bringing the note he had left for her closer so she could read it.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I regret that I am unable to be there when you awaken. I had to speak with Dumbledore and my classes start soon. As will yours, but I cannot bring myself to wake you. You look so beautiful laying there, though I think our activities last night did not help your hair._

She scowled and touched her hair. He was right. It was sticking out all over the place, frizzing even worse than usual. But she read on.

_Help yourself to my shower if you desire. I had a house elf bring contraceptive and pain potions as well as a set of your clothes. Best to take the contraceptive quickly. We should have done it last night before, but it should be just as effective if you take it this morning. _

_I have connected our rooms; you'll notice a new door in my quarters. Take the red one, those lead to your chambers. Leaving the way you came in could be…awkward, since I have third years soon, and then a group of first years following that. _

_I will see you tonight, and if it is agreeable I would like to make you dinner to atone for the date that I ruined last night. Reply by whichever means you see fit, owl, house elf, mysterious note sent by numbskull friends… Either way, I look forward to seeing you tonight._

_Severus_

Hermione took her time getting ready. Severus' bathroom was lovely, equipped with a large tub that filled with hot water in the blink of an eye and a huge shower with black titles that gleamed. It was masculine, but elegant. It suited him. After she had washed and was dressed, she left by the red door, the one he had said would lead to her rooms. But when she got there she decided for once that she would skip the rest of her classes. Everything seemed so surreal and wonderful right now. She didn't want to ruin her mood and pull herself back down to earth quite yet. So gathering a few books in a bag, Hermione went down to the Black Lake, propping her back against a tree. As she read the sun came out and she lifted her face, closing her eyes to fully enjoy the warmth of the sun.

She didn't hear the hooded figure approach. Didn't recognize the danger until the sting of the _stupefy_ spell hit. And she knew nothing more for a very long time.

* * *

_**A/N: **__ Who was the devil beneath the hood?! Reveal during the next chapter :)_


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